


When the Smoke Clears

by Mauve_Avenger



Series: Out of Yesterday's Ashes [6]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-02-23 08:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 38,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23875243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mauve_Avenger/pseuds/Mauve_Avenger
Summary: Nothing goes according to plan. When the Gaang is attacked, they are forced to change the plan once again.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Out of Yesterday's Ashes [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1363831
Comments: 42
Kudos: 295





	1. Part 1

The morning after Sokka and Zuko returned from Boiling Rock should have been a joyous one, and yet Katara wasn't happy at all. She had been too agitated to sleep, and in the predawn light, Katara was still unable to quiet her mind enough to rest. Her father was safe, and to her irritation, with this confirmation that he was alive and well, her complicated feelings about him had returned. She dreaded seeing him at breakfast. 

She also dreaded another face. 

Katara hadn't spoken to Zuko since the night before at the pond when he had almost...when  _ she _ had almost… Katara brought her hands up to her face and groaned. She wasn't sure whether she was feeling more embarrassed or disappointed. She  _ had _ wanted to kiss Zuko, and he had wanted to kiss her, too! When had  _ that  _ happened? When had she started  _ liking _ Zuko?  _ Prince _ Zuko! Of all people! Her taste in guys, Katara decided, was  _ terrible _ . First Jet, now Zuko?  _ Prince Zuko! _

But…

But how long had it been since he had ceased to be the face of the enemy? Was it that night after Hahoe, when they had saved each other's lives? Or maybe in Ba Sing Se, when she saw how much the sick and dying orphans had touched him? Maybe it was him pitching in around camp without her needing to fight or even ask him most of the time that did it. She could admit to herself that it had been building before he stepped off that airship bringing her brother and father back safely. Beyond that, her feelings for Zuko were as surprising to her as they would be to anyone.

And it seemed like he liked her, too. Katara's heart raced, remembering how Zuko's honey-brown eyes had softened, asking permission before he leaned in. If Sokka hadn't interrupted!

Katara rolled onto her side and groaned again. This time it was from disappointment. She toyed with the idea of getting up and trying to catch Zuko before he got Aang up to train. Then that reminded her of the third person who she wasn't anxious to see. Katara sighed and pulled her blanket over her head. Maybe it would be better to wait for everyone else to wake up so they could be a buffer between her and the three people making her life feel more complicated than it already was. 

A few hours later, Katara woke up from the fitful sleep she had fallen into with a jerk. The sun was much higher than it had been when she had decided not to start her day early. It wasn't very late, but everyone else would be up already, she guessed. Her hunch was confirmed when she emerged from her room and found Smeller Bee staring up at her. 

“Hey,” Katara greeted the younger girl.

“Morning,” Smeller Bee scrubbed her nose with the back of her arm. “What’s for breakfast?” Katara sighed and walked down the hall towards the courtyard. Everyone had woken up, but no one thought to start breakfast. Why would they? 

Zuko and Aang were still training, so it wasn’t  _ that _ late, Katara noted. She paused for a moment to watch them. They were shirtless, as usual, but for the first time Katara noticed the tone in Zuko’s arms, and the sinewy way that his muscles contract and extend beneath his skin. There was undeniable power in every move he made. Zuko glanced up and met Katara’s eye for a moment, but then turned away quickly, feigning busyness. Katara blinked in surprise, and her face heated with embarrassment. Maybe she had been wrong last night. Maybe she had misread the entire-

“Are you coming?” Smeller Bee had stopped a few paces ahead. She had turned back to Katara with an impatient frown. Katara followed her to the cook fire absently. 

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Hakoda looked up from where he and Sokka were having a conversation. 

“Good morning, Katara!” Sokka looked up at her in relief. “Are you going to start breakfast?” Katara scowled at him.

“ _ You _ couldn’t do it?” she grumbled.

“You’re better at cooking than I am,” Sokka insisted. 

“So, you can’t boil rice? You’re really  _ that _ useless?” Katara felt her chest constricting in rage. She had slept in one time and no one could figure out what to do without her? Hakoda must have sensed the storm brewing, because he jumped up between his children and tried to diffuse the situation. 

“Kids, there’s no reason-” he started, but Katara turned her wrath on him. 

“And what about you?” she demanded. “ _ You’re _ the oldest one here! It never occurred to  _ you _ to make breakfast?” Hakoda flinched away from Katara. 

“Katara, I didn’t realize-” 

“Didn’t realize what?” Katara’s hands were on her hips challengingly. “Didn’t realize that food doesn’t just cook itself?”

“Watch it Katara,” Hakoda warned her. “I’m  _ still _ the parent.” 

“Oh!  _ Are _ you?” Katara laughed incredulously. “Because I thought  _ I  _ was the one who had been roped into camp mom duties for the last year. For the last  _ three  _ years. You can’t just show up and expect to jump back into  _ dad-mode _ ! It doesn’t work that way!” The entire camp had fallen silent and everyone was watching Katara. Even Zuko and Aang had paused their lesson and were eyeing her with concern. Katara folded her arms across her middle protectively, and set her jaw angrily. 

“Hey, Katara-” Sokka started, but she raised her hand and cut him off. 

“You know what?” she said. “ _ I’m _ not hungry. You all can figure out breakfast yourselves.” Then she turned on her heel and stormed off to her room. 

Of course there was nothing for her to do in her room. Katara didn’t even have any of the sewing she had been working on. It would have been better if she had gone to the pond, but the idea of the lovely, placid spot in the woods was now tainted by the awkward memory of the almost kiss and the way Zuko had turned away from her that morning. And now embarrassment joined the unaccountable rage still sitting on her chest. 

Part of her conscience told Katara to go and apologize for her outburst, and pointed out that she would apologize sooner or later. But the part of her that was all pride and righteous indignation told her to stay holed up in her room. At least until after breakfast. It would be good for them all, she reasoned. It would be good for them to learn not to rely on her so much for the domestic tasks. After all, everyone but the very youngest among them knew how to boil rice. It wasn’t fair that they kept expecting her to do it. 

Katara couldn’t face her father. The hurt in his eyes when she had thrown his absence at him was seared into her memory. But she didn’t feel guilty about it. Not yet. That would come later. For the moment, she remembered the pain with bitter satisfaction, and if she were to go out, she would have to pretend to be sorry about what she said. 

  
She couldn’t face Zuko either. He couldn’t even look at her in the light of day. Whatever had happened- whatever had  _ almost _ happened at the pond, it seemed he regretted it. Katara didn’t want to have that conversation with him yet. She wanted time to fortify herself against that particular blow. So she stayed in her room. 

About an hour and a half after that scene, there was a timid knock at Katara’s door. It wasn’t very loud, but it was enough to wake Katara from the fitful sleep she had managed to fall into. She turned away from it, thinking that if she stayed quiet, whoever it was would take the hint and go away. No such luck. Whoever it was knocked again, harder this time.   
  


“Katara?” Zuko called from the other side of the door. “Are you in there?” Katara shot up on her bed. 

“Just a second!” she called back. She scrambled to her feet and, straightening her clothes and hair, rushed to the door. Zuko stood there, with a bowl of congee in hand. He held it out to Katara like an offering. He couldn’t have looked more stiff if he were actually kneeling before an altar. 

“I thought you might be hungry,” he said. He added hurriedly. “Sokka made it. And he said to tell you he said he’s sorry.” Katara accepted the bowl feeling just as awkward as Zuko looked. 

“Hey, about yesterday, I-”

“I’m sorry if I-”

Katara and Zuko stopped with nervous laughter. Zuko’s face was stained a light pink, and Katara was struck again with how young he was. It was endearing, and it left Katara with the hope that maybe she hadn’t been imagining things last night after all. 

“Go ahead,” she prompted Zuko. “You first.” Zuko opened his mouth to speak. Katara’s heart pounded so hard, she could hear the thudding in her ears. It was so loud that she didn't realize at first that some of the thudding wasn't in her head after all. At the sounds of fearful shouts and the sounds of crashing stones in the courtyard, Katara and Zuko took off running. 

The whole camp was in chaos, and the only thing Katara and Zuko could tell for sure is that they were under attack. Zuko rushed over to where Hakoda and Sokka were trying to pry climbing anchors off of the side of the cliff. Katara ran towards the fountain, causing the pipe to burst with the force of the water surging to her call. The sudden gush of water from the ruined fountain caught some of their attackers off guard. Katara took them out with a thick tentacle of water. Those who didn’t tumble off the edge of the platform she froze to the stone floor of the courtyard. Ty Lee’s panicked shriek alerted the fighters to a new arrival. 

Princess Azula grinned maniacally at the mayhem in the Air Temple. Katara had just a moment to glance nervously at Ty Lee before an explosion rocked the cliff face. Ty Lee had seen the metal shell that had been aimed in her direction with just enough time to leap out of the way, but she had still been caught by shrapnel in one side of her body. Katara skidded to her side and helped her out of the line of sight for any other attacks. 

“She-she tried to kill me,” Ty Lee murmured in shock as Katara did her best to quickly stem the flow of blood from her side. “She really tried to kill me.” Katara shook the girl’s shoulders, and Ty Lee made a valiant effort to focus. 

“Can you fight?” Katara asked. Ty Lee’s chin trembled, as if she were going to cry, but the moment passed. She clenched her jaw and nodded firmly. Katara wasn’t sure she believed Ty Lee’s conviction, but Ty Lee was trying and her wound was sufficiently patched. That was all that Katara could hope for in the moment.

The two split up, Ty Lee going to corral the Freedom Fighters away from the edge of the courtyard, Katara running to where her father had been put on the defensive by two of Azula’s soldiers. She heard an explosion behind her, and someone shouted her name before something solid slammed into her from behind. She felt arms wind around her, cushioning her against the stone floor. She twisted around frantically to find it was Zuko who had tackled her. Confusion froze her until she saw the crumbled remains of a boulder where she had just been standing moments earlier. Zuko leapt to his feet and rushed back into the fray. 

“Um..thanks?” Katara muttered irritably. Hakoda’s voice boomed over the chaos, and Katara rushed over to him. 

“We need to get out of here,” he was saying. “We’ll need to split up. You and Sokka take Aang, and leave with Appa.”

“Split up!” Katara gasped. In spite of the situation, her stomach dropped in disappointment. “We  _ just- _ ”

“We’ll draw the soldiers off,” Hakoda cut her off, and placed his hands on Katara’s shoulders. “They can’t catch us all. We need you to get Aang to safety.”

“What about you?” Katara demanded. Impatience flashed across her father’s face. She knew they didn’t have time for this. She knew she was just drawing out the inevitable. 

“We’ll be fine,” Hakoda promised. A million things flashed through Katara’s mind; regret, anger, fear. She had  _ just  _ gotten her father back! She hadn’t had a chance to apologize for snapping at him earlier. She hadn’t had time to even feel bad about it. And now they would be separated again. Hakoda must have seen some of Katara’s thoughts in her face. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, the way he had before he left the first time, and went back to the battle. Katara, blinking back tears, did the same. 

“Toph, we need cover,” Katara shouted. With a quick nod, Toph stomped hard on the stone ground and encased the remaining attackers in stone up to their necks. Then she brought down a stone wall separating Princess Azula’s airship from her prey. Decisions happened at breakneck speed, and Hakoda had taken the lead on most of it. He sent his children with Aang, Toph, Suki and Zuko, while he herded everyone else into the airship they had stolen from Boiling Rock. It was sleek and fast, and while it wasn’t made for combat, Hakoda was certain it would outpace the weighted combat ship.

Ty Lee was among those Hakoda loaded into the airship. It seemed she held invaluable information about Azula’s plans, and Hakoda wanted to take her to the leaders of the White Lotus to be properly debriefed. Katara bristled at the thought of her being around her father while she wasn’t there to protect him, but Ty Lee had fought on their side. She had helped rescue Hakoda. And there was no time for Katara to entertain her misgivings. She settled for fixing Ty Lee with a cold warning stare. One that promised unimaginable pain if she harmed Hakoda or anyone onboard the ship. Then, Katara scrambled into Appa’s saddle with her friends, and the two groups took off at once, in different directions. 

Hakoda was right about their airship being faster than Azula’s, but it turned out not to matter. Azula ordered her ship to go after Appa. Azula stood at the front of the ship and sent a massive ball of flame at the flying bison. With a yelp, Aang jerked on Appa’s reins, causing the beast to roll to the side. His passengers shrieked, clinging to the sides of the saddle. Azula wasn’t done yet though. She took aim again, and again, Aang maneuvered Appa out of this way. But this time, the flame got much closer. The smell of singed fur reached Aang’s nose and made him panic. Azula ordered whoever was steering her ship to give chase. Katara gritted her teeth and pulled herself up. There was no ocean around this time. No waves to call on to sink this ship. But there was water in the skin on her hip, and there were clouds. 

“Hold Appa as steady as you can,” she shouted to Aang. She pulled the water from the clouds and made a misty veil between the airship between Appa and Azula. It wasn’t enough to stop their pursuers, but it gave Katara enough time to make an ice blade without fear of being knocked out of Appa’s saddle. When the balloon of the ship emerged through the mists, Katara was ready. The razor sharp edge of the blade sliced through the balloon easily. The hiss of the escaping air nearly drowned out the fearful shouts of the crew. The airship banked sharply, heading back to the air temple before they crashed on the canyon floor below. Azula bellowed in rage and sent one last ball of flame at the escaping bison. She missed again, but Katara didn’t have time to brace herself as Appa rolled sideways to dodge the attack. She began to tumble out of the saddle, but a strong arm curled around her waist before she could fall very far. Zuko held on to her until Aang was able to steady Appa again. 

“Are you okay?” Zuko asked. 

“I’m fine,” Katara said. Her voice was flat as she pulled away from him. She settled in a corner at the back of the saddle and stared out into the distance. Azula and her crew had managed to land the deflating ship on what was left of the courtyard. The ship carrying Hakoda and the others was barely a speck on the horizon, and Katara wasn’t even sure if she was looking at the right speck. No one else tried to speak to her, which was fine. Katara didn’t have anything to say.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The Fire Nation archipelago was full of small, uninhabited islands. Even with the heavy patrols in the waters, there were plenty of places for the group to set Appa down and rest. They found one small, rocky island, covered in cliffs and grass some hours after they fled the Air Temple. No one was in much of a talking mood, so Katara's continued silence didn't cause any concern until the group started to set up camp. 

The first sign that something was wrong came around dinner. When it was time to get the evening meal started, Sokka began to ask Katara if she would do it. He had either forgotten their argument earlier, or thought she was over it, but one look at her as he approached made him rethink his request. There was an absolute storm brewing on his sister’s face that threatened to break on the first person to invite her ire. Fortunately, Suki volunteered to make dinner, and Sokka happily volunteered to help her. Zuko corralled Aang and Toph to help set up camp, leaving Katara only responsible for setting up her own tent. 

The freedom did nothing to settle Katara. Once she was done, she paced the small encampment, pausing periodically to scan the horizon. She wasn’t sure if she was hoping to spot her father’s airship, or watching for any sign of pursuers, or if it was just something to do with herself. Eventually, Sokka called everyone to dinner, and Katara reluctantly returned to the campfire.

The mood was oddly jovial over dinner. Sokka proudly explained the evening’s meal, as if he had contributed more than putting the water on to boil and slice up some vegetables. Aang and Toph teased him and made a big deal of complimenting Suki and only Suki on how good dinner tasted. Even Zuko made a few weak attempts at telling jokes he only half remembered from his time on the ship. Katara’s stomach clenched tightly, and she couldn’t swallow more than a few bites of dinner. 

“It feels like old times,” Sokka said halfway through the meal. He paused and looked at Zuko pointedly. “Well, almost.” Zuko grinned a bit awkwardly and shrugged. 

“I could always chase you guys around,” he offered. “Make  _ really  _ feel like old times.”   
  


“That’s  _ not  _ funny,” Katara said darkly. It was the first thing she had said since thanking Suki for cooking. An uncomfortable silence fell over the group for a moment, but Katara focused intensely on her meal. She made herself eat another spoonful as her companions watched her nervously. Eventually, Sokka broke the tense quiet with a forced joke that was met with equally forced laughter, and the conversations picked up again. Katara glared into her bowl silently. When Sokka declared he was still hungry, she shoved the rest of her meal at him without a word. 

Zuko had found wildflowers growing nearby whose nectar made a naturally sweet tea. He brewed a pot for them all after dinner. Katara looked at the cup he presented her distastefully. 

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” She asked snarkily. “How do you know this is even the right flower? For all you know, this could be poisonous.” Zuko fell back in shock. She hadn’t outright accused him of  _ purposely  _ trying to poison them, but there was no denying the accusation in her eyes. 

“I...I,” Zuko stammered beneath her icy glare. It was a far cry from the softness he had seen there just a day earlier. Finally, Katara snorted in disgust, declining the tea. 

“Hey, Katara,” Sokka spoke up. “Are you-”   
  


“I’m taking a walk,” Katara declared, rising stiffly from her seat. The look she cast her friends as she stalked off said very clearly,  _ leave me alone.  _

And she was left alone, but only for about half an hour. 

Zuko came looking for her, ignoring, Katara was sure, her brother’s advice to stay far away from her. He found her at a cliff’s edge, gazing out into the inky blackness of the ocean. The wind off the ocean drowned out the sound of his approaching footsteps, but she felt his presence behind her, and was irritated that she could tell him apart from everyone else.

“What do you want?” she asked coldly.

“Did I do something to you?” Zuko’s voice sounded equal part apprehensive and annoyed. Katara turned and glowered at him. Zuko stood at a careful distance, with his arms hanging loosely at his side as if Katara were some wild, unpredictable animal that might lash out. From where she stood, and in the pale light of the nearly full moon, she couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but she knew that they were full of wariness.

“Why are you here?” Katara demanded. “I want to be alone. Did you not get that?” Zuko leaned forward, bringing his hands up pleadingly. 

“If you just tell me what I did wrong, maybe I can fix it!” he insisted. Katara let out a sharp, bitter bark of laughter. 

“ _ Fix it _ ?” she repeated incredulously. “Okay. Fix it. Can you bring my dad back? Or unconquer Ba Sing Se? No? Well, then how about bringing my mother back, huh?” Katara’s rage had finally found an outlet. Just like with her father earlier that day, she knew she might regret it later, but for the moment, she was glad to see the stunned hurt on Zuko’s face. Or she told herself she was glad. After a moment, she broke eye contact and with a shaky breath, she stormed past him back to camp and into her tent before anyone could ask questions. She was done with them all for the night. 

Zuko walked numbly back to camp a few minutes after Katara. His entire body ached as if Katara had physically hit him. He had somehow made things worse, he thought. He probably should have heeded Sokka’s warnings to leave his sister alone for a while, but Zuko  _ had  _ to speak to her. He hated the thought that she was angry with him, and he had wanted to make it better. But he didn’t know what to do with the accusations she had laid at his feet. Everyone was preparing for bed, but Sokka was sitting by the fire, sharpening the dark blade of his sword. 

“I told you to leave her alone,” he said, not lifting his gaze from his work. Zuko sat next to him and buried his face in his hands. 

“I think I made things worse,” he said. 

“Yeah, well,” Sokka shrugged. “At least you lived to fight another day.” 

"I don't know what I did wrong!" Zuko groaned. "I  _ thought  _ she…" Zuko flushed slightly. He darted his eyes nervously at Sokka, but he hadn't looked up from examining his blade.

"I don't think she's mad at you," Sokka told Zuko. “Not really.” 

"You sure?" Zuko scoffed. "Because it seems like she is." Sokka shrugged.

"I'm not  _ completely  _ sure," he admitted. "But it's probably not personal. She's upset, and anger is her defense." Zuko could relate to that. After all, up until the Sun Warriors and the dragons, anger was literally his power source.

"Why is she taking it out on  _ me _ ?" Zuko asked.

_ "I _ don't know." Sokka unsheathed his sword and dug his whetstone out of his bag. "I said it's  _ probably  _ not personal. But maybe you did screw up somehow. Don't worry, though. If you did, she'll tell you about it eventually. In  _ excruciating  _ detail."

"I  _ really  _ appreciate your help in this," Zuko said sarcastically. He half heartedly threw a pebble in his direction.

"Hey!" Sokka protested. "Look, alright! Being separated from Dad again is rough on both of us. But Katara holds a lot of stuff in until it comes out at the easiest target. It's probably you because of  _ your  _ sister." Zuko opened his mouth to protest, but Sokka held his hands up. "I know, I know it isn't fair. It really isn't, but you have to understand this is how Katara deals with things. It was really all she  _ could  _ do. Especially after Mom died."

"You don't react that way," Zuko pointed out. Sokka smiled weakly. 

"What can I say, I'm super chill."

"Sure." Zuko snorted at that. He had been with the group long enough to see Sokka throw a fit over someone getting the last of the seal jerky. 

"Seriously!" Sokka insisted. "I don't know why, but it's been this way since Mom died. I saw Katara cry maybe twice for Mom, but she got angry  _ a lot _ ."

"She did?" Zuko leaned forward

Sokka sighed and turned his attention back to his sword.

“I think losing Mom hit Katara the hardest of any of us,” he said. He ran the whetstone over the edge of his sword's razor sharp blade. “It's not  _ just  _ that Mom died; it's that she died so  _ Katara  _ could live. I didn't know how to help her handle that, so... I didn't try. And I know that I was just a kid myself- I was eight- there probably wasn't much I  _ could  _ do. But I wish I had tried. And now… I don't even know how to begin making it up to her. Katara took on a lot after that. She basically raised me, you know. I think…” Sokka set the stone aside and picked at the loose skin on his lip. “I think Katara was trying to prove that Mom didn't die in vain. That by taking Mom's place as much as she could, it would make her feel... I don't know…” Sokka shrugged helplessly as he tried to find the words. 

“Worthy?” Zuko supplied hesitantly. Sokka nodded solemnly at his friend.

“Exactly.” Sokka sighed and scratched his head. “Of course, I'm saying all of this with the benefit of hindsight. I didn't realize how much she had taken on for us at the time. I don't think Dad even realizes. Gran-Gran might understand, but... I mean, she did a great job but, you know-”

“She was six,” Zuko murmured. He looked over towards Katara's tent. It didn't seem like she would be coming back out any time soon. When he turned back to Sokka, his mouth was set into a grim line. “Tell me about the men who did it.” 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Katara’s heart leapt into her throat. Zuko was at her tent when she woke the next morning, sitting on a rock. From the look of him, he had been there for several hours. Possibly all night. A thin shard of concern pierced the hard shell of her now cooled rage, but when Zuko stirred and blinked sleepily up at her, Katara had already reschooled her face into a mask of indifference. 

“You look terrible,” she announced gruffly, and brushed past him. Zuko scrambled to his feet and followed her to the campfire, where Sokka was scrambling to assemble breakfast. Katara rolled her eyes and didn’t say anything to him either. She went to the small fresh water stream near their camp and began preparing for the day. Zuko was still behind her, for some reason.

“Now what do you want?” she huffed irritably as she began combing out her hair. 

“I know who killed your mother.’

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Katara and Zuko didn’t rejoin the others for breakfast. Or lunch, Zuko’s stomach reminded him some time later. Katara on a mission had a single minded focus that rivaled his own at the height of his Avatar hunt. The pair spent the morning and part of the afternoon planning- or rather, Katara spent that time grilling Zuko and making her own plans. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Zuko asked once she had finally allowed him a word in edgewise. 

“Are you going to try to talk me out of it?” Katara demanded, icy eyes flashing dangerously. 

“No, no!” Zuko said quickly. “I’m with you whatever you decide. As long as you’re sure this is what you want.”

“It is,” Katara assured him frostily. Zuko suppressed a shiver and swallowed hard. 

“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll go pack some supplies.” Katara nodded once. 

“I’ll tell Aang we need Appa.” 

That Aang turned out to be an obstacle should have come as a surprise to neither Zuko or Katara. As soon as he heard the plan, his face had gone unusually stony as he denied Katara her request. 

“I’m sorry,” he said firmly. “I can’t support a revenge mission.”   
  


“This isn’t revenge!” Katara snapped. “It’s justice.” 

“Are you sure?” Aang snorted. “Because it looks like revenge from this angle.”

“Then stand where  _ I’m _ standing!” Katara bore down on Aang with all the fury of a storm, but Aang remained staunch. 

“I can’t let you do this.” Aang’s eyes widened beseechingly and he held his hands out to Katara. “Please Katara! This isn’t like you.” Katara reeled back at that. She hadn’t expected him to say  _ that. _

“How would you know?” Katara asked him. “How would you know what I’m like or not like?”

“I  _ know _ you.” Aang stepped forward eagerly. “I’ve known you for months, and you aren’t like...like  _ this _ .” 

“Let her go, Aang.” Katara and Aang looked up in surprise to see their friends had joined them. Sokka’s normally expressive face was dark and hard as stone. 

“Sokka, you can’t mean that!” Aang yelped. 

“I  _ do  _ mean it,” Sokka said. “Let her go. She needs this.” Aang started to protest, but Sokka shook his head. “She  _ does _ need this. You don’t understand the grief this man caused us  _ all _ , but  _ especially  _ her. If Katara says she needs to face that monster, then I believe her.” Aang shook his head vehemently. 

“The monks told me-”

“The monks had a different wisdom for a different time,” Zuko cut Aang off. “This man committed war crimes. He deserves to face punishment for it.” 

“But you’re not suggesting punishment!” Aang declared. “You’re suggesting revenge! Katara, I understand what it’s like to lose someone you love. When I lost Appa-”

“You’re comparing  _ my mother’s murder _ to losing  _ Appa?” _ Katara’s voice rang through the air, and the heat of her anger caused Aang to shrink back. “Spirts’ sake, Aang! It’s all well and good for you to talk forgiveness. You  _ got _ Appa back. I will never see my mother again. And I can barely remember what her voice sounded like, or what song she used to sing when she tucked me in, or what her hugs felt like. But thanks to that...that monster, I will never forget the smell of her blood or how cold she felt after she died!” Katara was sobbing now, and Sokka brushed past Aang to hug his sister. He glared at Aang over her shoulder. The young boy sighed sadly. 

  
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I know it must have been hard to find her like that.”   
  


“She didn’t  _ find _ our mom,” Sokka spat. “She was there when it happened.” Aang gaped at them. Katara buried her face in Sokka’s shoulder and gathered herself. When she finally got her crying under control, she stood to face Aang. 

A part of her was curious to see how he would handle knowing the truth of her mother’s death. It wasn’t something they had talked about before. Aang knew Katara and Sokka’s mother was dead, but he had never asked for details, and Katara never offered them. Now here were the details thrown down at his feet, and Katara wondered how he would react. This boy who had lost so much and should have understood Katara’s pain, but had compared her mother’s death to losing Appa for a couple of weeks. 

“I can’t let you do this,” Aang sighed at last. “It isn’t right.” Katara’s spine stiffened, her chest went still, and the air around her grew deadly calm. For a moment the three boys waited for the eruption they were sure was coming. But Katara surprised them all by turning on her heel and walking stiffly back towards her tent. 

“Katara!” Aang called. He started after her, but a strong, dark hand on his shoulder held him back. 

“Trust me,” Sokka warned him. “She doesn’t want to speak to you.” Zuko did not choose to include himself in Sokka’s admonition, and ran after Katara. He caught up with her just as she was about to go into her tent. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “We can find another way. Maybe...maybe after the war, we can…” Katara turned to him and held his gaze with those unnerving, frigid eyes of hers. 

“Are you still with me?” she demanded. Zuko nodded dumbly, struggling to find his voice. 

“I am,” he managed to whisper. 

“Good.” Katara nodded sharply. “Meet me on the cliffs at midnight.” 

Zuko wasn’t surprised to find Katara saddling Appa on the cliffs. He would have suggested it himself, but he felt he hadn’t been friends with Aang long enough to steal his pet. Katara, though, had no such fears.

“Are you ready?” she asked him. Zuko nodded silently, dropping his bag of supplies at his feet. 

“So you’re just going to take Appa without asking?” Aang vaulted over Appa’s saddle and landed in front of the pair. He shook his head in disappointment at Katara. 

“Aang-” Katara groaned. 

“But, it’s okay,” Aang pressed on. “Even though Appa is my closest and dearest friend, I forgive you for trying to steal him. Give you any ideas?” Heat flooded Katara’s cheeks, and she moved forward, ready to light into Aang, but Zuko stepped between them. 

“Now isn’t the time for one of your lectures, Aang,” he said. “You dealt with your losses your own way. Katara has to do this her way. If you don’t want us to take, Appa, fine. We’ll find another way. But we  _ will _ find this guy, one way or another.” 

Aang looked from Zuko to Katara, and his face wavered. Finally he sighed and stepped aside for them. Appa grunted and flopped down so they could climb up easier. Zuko went up first, securing their bags. As she passed to follow him, Aang caught Katara’s hand. She looked at him, her face pinched in barely contained annoyance. 

“I know you feel like you have to face this guy,” he said quietly. “But when you do,  _ please _ choose forgiveness.” Katara muttered something noncommittal and yanked her hand free. She climbed up behind Appa’s head, and with a flip of his reins, Appa took to the sky, leaving Aang a speck behind them. 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Three days. They had travelled for three days, and in all that time, Zuko was certain that Katara hadn’t done much more than doze. The outpost had been a bust. The man who they were looking for had retired a few years earlier. But the trip hadn’t been a complete dead end. They had been able to find out where the man lived and his name. The trouble was Katara. 

“Don’t worry about my strength,” she had snapped at Zuko when he suggested she needed rest. “I have plenty. I’m not the helpless little girl when they murdered my mother.” Zuko had seen Katara bring a man to his knees without touching him. He had no illusions about her being helpless. Still…

“Even the strongest warriors need rest,” Zuko pressed. “And I can help you-”

  
“You can help me by not questioning every decision I make!” Katara turned from her position at Appa’s reins to hit Zuko with the full force of her burning glare. Despite the way she had been treating him the past few days, Zuko didn’t think that Katara would hurt him. Not really. But the look she gave him cowed him anyway. He swallowed hard and settled back into his seat with a final, somewhat defeated offer to take over steering if she decided she  _ did _ need rest after all. He need not have offered. Katara steered Appa through the night, pushing the flying bison harder than Zuko thought was wise. But he kept that opinion to himself. 

They reached the village where their quarry- a man named Yon Rah- lived by the afternoon of the third day. Once Appa had been carefully hidden outside of town, Zuko and Katara set about finding Yon Rah. It wasn’t difficult. The man had made himself a nuisance since his retirement, and it wasn’t long before the pair heard the complaints and accusations of cheapness following a tall man with iron grey hair. He turned in their direction once to yell insults at the elderly couple who he had just bullied into selling him fish at half of what it should have cost. Zuko and Katara were hidden on the roof of a nearby building, but Katara gasped when she saw him. Even at that distance she recognized him.

“That’s him,” she whispered. Despite his better judgement, Zuko reached out and squeezed Katara’s shoulder comfortingly. She didn’t brush him off, but she had stiffened at his touch. 

As the day wore on, the sky, which had been clear when they arrived, had gone slate grey as a bank of storm clouds rolled in. Yon Rah noticed them with obvious distaste, and he hurried out of the market of town towards his home. Katara and Zuko trailed him closely, but silently. Still, Yon Rah seemed to grow wary. He paused to listen to the sounds of the empty wooded path for a moment, and then started off again, at a faster pace than before. He froze when he heard rustling in the bushes off to the side of the road. He dropped his packages of food and supplies and threw a massive fireball at a particularly large bush. He stepped back to watch the blaze when suddenly, there was a cold steel blade at his throat. 

“We weren’t in the bushes,” Zuko whispered harshly in his ear. There was a sharp crack of thunder to punctuate the moment, then the rain began to pour. 

“Take whatever you want!” Yon Rah pleaded. “Just spare my life.” With a disgusted snort, Zuko tossed Yon Rah to the ground near Katara’s feet. Yon Rah flinched away as he met her eyes, as cold and sharp as the sword had been against his flesh. Katara pulled the mask covering the bottom half of her face and leaned in close. 

“Do you remember me?” she demanded. 

“I...I don’t,” Yon Rah stammered, trying to back away from Katara. “I don’t know...Maybe?”

“You’d better try real hard to remember,” Katara warned him. “You better remember like you life depends on it.” Yon Rah pushed back his now drenched hair and stared at Katara through the downpour. His eyes widened in shock and confusion. 

“You...you’re that girl,” he said. “The little Water Tribe girl. The waterbender’s daughter.” Katara’s face twisted into a feral mask of rage. 

“She wasn’t the waterbender,” Katara snapped. Yon Rah tried to scramble away, but the road had turned to mud and he couldn’t gain any purchase. Katara lifted her arms. “She wasn’t the last waterbender. She was  _ protecting  _ the last waterbender.”

The rain stopped falling suddenly. Zuko and Yon Rah both looked around in awe. The rain drops had frozen in mid air around them. It was a display of raw power, and even Zuko had to hide a tremble as the raindrops began to come together in sharp, icy shards aimed at Yon Rha.

“I’m sorry!” the old man cried. He rolled around until he was on his knees, covered in mud and openly weeping at Katara’s feet. “I’m sorry! I did a terrible thing. I deserve to be punished for it.” Yon Rah held his hands up in supplication. Zuko’s grip on his swords tightened, ready to leap in if Yon Rah tried anything. But the blubbering man seemed to have forgotten he was a fire bender. 

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “Please spare my life! I’ll give you all my money. I’m a comfortable man!”

“My mother’s life was worth more than you can pay,” Katara hissed. The ice spiked hovered over Yon Rah. 

“You’re right!” he agreed quickly. “You are absolutely right. No amount of money can replace the loss of a mother. It’s only fair that you take my mother’s life.” 

Katara felt her control on the ice shards slip for a moment. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. The parts were right. She had her mother’s murderer at her mercy. She could see the fear in his eyes. The same eyes that had haunted her nightmares for almost ten years. But…

There was no malice in his eyes. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary about him. Yon Rah was a meanspirited, selfish, murderous worm of a man, but he wasn’t the monster that Katara had always remembered him being. He was…

“Pathetic.” The icicles shuddered as Katara breathed the word out. She shook her head and regarded Yon Rah in disgust. 

“I am!” Yon Rah, agreed, still cowereing at her feet. “I am pathetic. Please have mercy on me.” Katara’s stomach roiled. She could feel Zuko behind her, watching her to see what she would do. With a roar of primal rage, Katara brought the sharpened icicled crashing down. Yon Rah let out a yelp, shutting his eyes and waiting for them to piece his flesh. There was nothing though. After a moment, he chanced to open his eyes and found himself staring at Katara through frozen bars of a makeshift cage. 

“You don’t deserve to die,” she told him. “That would be too easy for you.” Then Katara spun on her heel and walked away. Zuko turned to watch her go, pulling his mask down distractedly. Yon Rah’s gaze drifted over to him and he gasped in surprise. 

“You...aren’t you....?’ He started to ask. Zuko turned to Yon Rah with frightening scowl. 

“If you know what’s good for you, you didn’t see us,” he warned him. Then he turned to follow Katara.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Zuko was surprised when Katara climbed back into the saddle a couple of hours into their journey. 

“Hey,” he said. Katara sat across from him and pulled her knees up to her chest.

“Hey,” she greeted him. She stared down at the empty space between for a long time. Zuko was going to offer to take Appa's reins when Katara spoke again. 

  
  


“Are you mad at me?” She asked the question so quietly that it was almost lost on the breeze.

“Why on earth would I be mad at you?” Zuko was truly baffled. Katara looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“I've been such a jerk to you lately. And then, after all you've done…" Katara swallowed hard and shook her head. She whispered, “I couldn't do it.”

Katara looked so small and sincere in that moment. She looked like the girl she never got the chance to be instead of the vengeful warrior who had her mother's murderer cowering on his knees not two hours ago. Zuko fought the urge to pull her into his arms and tuck her head beneath his chin and let her be small for a little while.

“Of course I'm not mad,” he told her instead.

“You should be,” Katara said quietly. “You have every right to be. I...I am so angry and scared, and I was taking things out on you that weren’t your fault. And I knew that. I knew I was wrong, but I did it anyway.” 

“Katara!” Zuko reached out and cupped her face gently, making her meet his gaze. “I’m  _ not  _ mad at you.” Katara squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. She brought her trembling hands up to Zuko’s wrists and held on. Impulsively, Zuko brought his forehead down to rest on hers.

“Did you get what you needed from him?” he asked. Katara’s eyes sprang open, and she held his gaze for a moment, and then looked away. 

“We should stop to eat soon,” she said, pulling away from Zuko. “Appa needs a break. I'll... I'll make dinner.” Zuko nodded and got to his feet. 

“I'll take over steering for a while,” he told her. “I'll let you know when I find someplace to land, alright?” Katara gave him a weak smile, and then turned back to stare at the horizon.

They made it to the small abandoned fishing village where they were to rendezvous with the rest of their friends in the middle of the next day. They hadn't spoken much, but the air between them was much more peaceful that it had been, and it was obvious. Aang approached them trepidatiously once they had disembarked from Appa’s saddle. 

“What did you do?” he asked Katara with a tremble in his voice. Katara looked from him to Sokka, who was watching her impassively. Then she sighed and shook her head. 

“He’s still alive,” she said. Sokka shut his eyes, and Katara wasn’t sure if she was imaging the disappointment in his face. Aang was overjoyed though. He squeezed her tightly around her middle. 

“I  _ knew _ you’d make the right choice!” he exclaimed. “Doesn’t it feel good to choose forgiveness?”   
  


“I  _ didn’t _ forgive him,” Katara snapped, pulling away from Aang’s grasp. “I will  _ never _ forgive him.’ Katara turned to Zuko. “But I want you to know I forgive you. I forgave you a  _ long _ time ago.”

“Katara, you-” Zuko started to protest. But he swallowed whatever he was going to say when Katara pulled him into an embrace. 

“Thank you,” she whispered. Zuko didn’t reply. He just hugged her back, tightly. Far too soon, Katara pulled away and went to go speak to her brother. 

“I’m glad she didn’t kill him,” Aang said, coming up beside Zuko. “Even if she hasn’t forgiven him  _ yet _ , there’s still hope.” Zuko pulled his gaze away from Katara and settled it on Aang. 

“Killing Yon Rah wouldn’t have done any good,” Zuko said. “And it probably would have been too kind to him.” Aang scrunched his nose up at Zuko in confusion. 

“Huh…?” 

“Aang,” Zuko turned to face the younger boy fully and met his eye. “This war isn’t going to end without more deaths. What are you planning to do when you fight my father?”

Aang didn’t have an answer. Zuko wasn’t sure that he really expected him to. After a moment of heavy silence, Zuko turned away. He didn’t have an answer for Aang, either.

.*.*.*.*.*.

When Zuko suggested Ember Island as their hideout, everyone except Sokka thought it was a terrible idea. To Zuko’s chagrin, it was Sokka who ultimately convinced them. 

“It’s perfect!” he insisted. “It’s a great spot strategically. We’ll be right in the Fire Nation when back up gets here. And it’s the absolute last place anyone would think to look for us.”   
  


“No one from my family has been there in years,” Zuko added helpfully. “Not since the last time we were happy.”

In the end, the group agreed to go to the abandoned summer mansion, however reluctantly. That reluctance soon gave way to excitement when they arrived at the mansion. It was dusty and slightly dank inside, but it was a level of luxury that the group had rarely enjoyed in their travels. Like the Air Temple, there were enough rooms for everyone to have their own, and like the Upper Tier of Ba Sing Se, there was indoor plumbing, so everyone who wanted to could have a proper bath. The kitchen, though bare of food for the moment, was fully supplied with pot and utensils and bowls and plates. It felt like a real home.

“Maybe this was a good idea, after all,” Katara said to Zuko as they sorted through the kitchen cabinets, looking for something to cook that evening’s meal in.

“Well, don’t gush about it,” Zuko snorted sarcastically. “Not  _ all _ my ideas are bad.”

“I mean...you  _ are  _ the one who thought it was smart to swim in the Northern Ocean.” Katara shot him an arch look, her eyes sparkling playfully. “And you did drag me into an alley in Ba Sing Se.” Zuko scowled at her, but there was no heat in it, and Katara saw something like a smile at the edge of his lips. 

“Okay, I survived, didn’t I?  _ Both  _ times. So how bad could those ideas have been?” 

“Uh-huh.” Katara’s brow arched even higher.

“Besides,” Zuko continued with a shrug. “We became friends in Ba Sing Se.” He glanced at Katara, suddenly uncertain. “I mean, we did, right?” The fond smile that spread over Katara’s face was almost involuntary. 

“Yeah,” she said with a nod. She reached up and rested her hand on Zuko’s cheek. He gasped when her fingers grazed his scar. “We did. And I’m really glad.” Katara watched him for a moment, almost expectantly. 

Zuko’s mind was blank. It was just like at the lake. Did she want him to kiss her? It seemed like she wanted him to. But what if he was wrong? What if he had imagined that moment between them? But her hand was on his cheek, and her touch was so gentle.  _ Everything  _ about her was gentle. It seemed so much like she wanted this as much as he did. And if he were wrong…?

If he were wrong it would be devastating, and he might never be able to meet her eye again. If she even let him live that long. But… As he gazed into her eyes, he wondered if death might not be worth it. 

So he leaned in.

Just like at the lake, she didn’t pull away. 

Her eyes drifted shut just a moment before his did.

“Hey, guys! Did you guys start on dinner yet?” The door burst open and Aang breezed in, wound up from an afternoon of exploring the abandoned mansion. He didn’t see Katara and Zuko jump apart. “I was thinking maybe we could get something from town instead!’

“Aang, we can’t go into town!” Katara snapped with unusual force, her face bright red. “You and Zuko are too recognizable.”

“But-!”

“And why are you running in this kitchen? We could have had knives in our hands, Aang! That’s dangerous! Just stop running around the house in general!”

“I was just-”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Katara planted one hand on her hip and used the other one to point to the door. “Out!’

“But, I-” Aang tried to plead. Katara would not be moved, however. She shook her head and pointed more forcefully to the door. 

“Go wash for dinner. It’ll be ready in half an hour.” 

Finally, Aang sighed and slumped out of the door. Zuko watched bewildered at the quick exchange. Then Katara turned on him, her eyes flashing, and no longer as gentle. Was she about to unleash her anger on him, too? Was she upset about him trying to kiss her again?  _ Had _ he misread her?

…!

Suddenly, Katara’s hands had come up to cup his face, and then her lips were on his, firm and decisive. Then a moment later, it was over, and Zuko was staring at her dazed. She looked triumphant for a moment, but then her face fell in concern as she searched his face. 

“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I thought… Was I wrong?” She started to pull away to Zuko’s distress. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for their second kiss. 

It was everything Zuko hadn’t allowed himself to hope for. Katara had wanted to kiss him, too. Had  _ actually _ had the nerve to make the first move. Now Zuko kissed her urgently and greedily. He might not get another chance once Katara came back to her senses and realized how far out of his league she was. 

“You weren’t wrong,” Zuko gasped when they broke for breath. Now Katara looked dazed, and Zuko was proud of the small smile across her swollen lips. 

“Wow,” she whispered. 

“Yep,” Zuko agreed with a laugh. Slowly, they disentangled themselves with timid, blushing smiles. Katara passed Zuko a knife. 

“You slice the vegetables, I’ll get the rice started?” she asked shyly. Zuko would have sliced anything she asked him to just then, but he thought that saying so out loud would have made him sound incredibly lame. So instead he took the knife with a wide grin and began slicing with the precision and fervor that made the Blue Spirit so deadly. 


	2. Part 2

Something was off with Zuko, Toph noted with a frown. He seemed almost...cheerful since they had arrived on Ember Island. Just the night before, she had heard him _laugh_ ! At one of _Sokka’s_ jokes. At first, Toph had ignored the sudden mood change, but now it was just downright scary. 

“You don’t think that’s creepy?” Toph asked Suki and Katara. They were hanging out on the porch while Zuko finished his training session with Aang. Toph was next, and Suki and Katara would be heading to the beach soon for their own training session. 

“What’s creepy?” Suki asked distractedly. Most of her attention was on something in her hands. Her fans, Toph guessed, but since Suki was standing on the porch, it was a bit difficult for Toph to tell clearly. 

“That!” Toph gestured towards Zuko, who was congratulating Aang on the progress he had made on a new sequence. He clapped Aang on the back, the most physical affection Toph had ever known him to exhibit. Zuko had up until then favored a teaching style not too different from Toph, but now he was acting more like Katara. “Him! He’s so...bubbly lately! It’s weird and gross!” 

“Oh?” Suki said questioningly. “I haven’t noticed anything different about him.   
  


“You’ve only known him a week.” Toph waved Suki off. “That’s not the Zuko we’ve come to know and love. He _laughed_ yesterday!”

“He has a nice laugh,” Katara chided faintly. She was also standing on the porch, but it didn’t sound like she was facing her and Suki. 

“That’s not the point!” Toph insisted. “Zuko doesn’t laugh! How are you not freaking out? What if he’s sick?”

“Which sickness makes you laugh?” Toph could hear the amusement in Katara’s voice. She turned in the older girl’s direction and scowled. 

“I’m telling you, something’s off about him.”

The boys finished their training and were making their way over to the porch. Toph turned to regard Zuko closely. His footsteps slowed uncertainly as he approached the girls. Aang, on the other hand rushed at them, using his airbending to vault himself onto the porch behind Suki and Katara. 

“Did you see what I just did?” he asked excitedly. “I’ve almost mastered firebending! Right, Zuko?”

“Um...sure,” Zuko mumbled. “Not quite yet, but you’re getting there.” Zuko turned to the girls, greeting them with a stiff bend at the waist. “Um...good morning.” 

“Did you just _bow_ to us, Prince Sparky?” Toph asked, aghast. Zuko’s awkwardness had reached new heights, and Toph was too shocked to properly tease him about it.

“What?” Zuko’s heart sped up, and it didn’t seem to have anything to do with the exertion of fire bending. “I didn’t bow!” 

  
“You did!” Toph pressed. “You’re being so weird lately! What’s gotten into you?”

“Stop picking on him, Toph!” Katara snapped. “Don’t you and Aang have earthbending practice. Hey, Zuko. I...ah... _we_ saved you some bacon from breakfast.” Zuko’s heart beat oddly at that. 

Oh.

“That’s great!” Zuko said. “I...I love bacon.” He reached out to lean against the banister, but he somehow missed it and stumbled towards the stairs. Katara laughed a bit and Zuko’s heart made that weird stutter again. 

_Oh!_

“This is _too good!”_ Toph laughed suddenly. She could feel everyone turned to stare at her, but she kept chuckling to herself. 

“You want to share the joke with the rest of us?” Katara asked. Toph grinned up at her with a slightly vicious gleam. 

“I won’t if you pay me,” she offered. 

“What are you talking about?” Zuko tilted his head in confusion. 

“I think you know.” Toph turned her wicked smile on him for a moment. She could see him tense up, and once again his heart began to race. Her grin widened. “You know _exactly_ what I mean.”

“What’s she talking about?” Aang asked. Suddenly, Toph leaped to her feet and pointed in Aang’s direction. 

“Nevermind that, Twinkletoes,” she said. “You’re late for training.”

“But _you_ were-” Aang started to protest. 

“Chop, chop!” Toph spun on her heel and started towards the courtyard. Aang huffed, disappointed at the brevity of his break, and followed reluctantly. 

“What was that about?” Toph heard Suki asked. 

“No idea!” Katara and Zuko said far too quickly. Toph snickered quietly to herself. They made it almost too easy. 

It had been a day and a half since the event in the kitchen, but between training and figuring out how to resupply without drawing any suspicion in town and a severe case of nerves, Zuko and Katara hadn’t found another moment to themselves to talk. Katara had half a mind to pull Zuko aside just then, but Suki announced then that she was ready to begin her training session with Katara. Without any reasonable excuse to put her off, Katara reluctantly followed her friend towards the beach.

“See you later?” Katara mentally scolded herself. Of _course_ she would see him later. Where were either of them going? But if Zuko noticed she was acting oddly, he didn’t mention it. 

“Um...yeah,” he said, a slight tinge of pink on his face. “Cool. Later.” 

Katara scrambled to catch up with Suki. The other girl watched her curiously, but Katara just flashed her an overly bright smile.

“Well, let’s get going!”

Katara had approached Suki about learning hand to hand combat on the way to Ember Island. She had actually been interested while they were on Kyoshi, but she hadn’t been able to join the warriors’ training with her brother. There just hadn’t been time. 

On the beach, Suki handed Katara her spare set of fans and guided her through the first of the most basic steps. The sand was more difficult to work on than solid earth, or even the ice and snow of the Northern Tribe’s training fields, but with Suki’s coaching, Katara managed. 

One hour passed after the other. Suki led Katara through increasingly difficult stances and variations. Soon Katara began to quake with the effort of keeping up with her instructor. Suki had her working muscles she had never considered before. It was every bit as difficult as learning waterbending. 

“Seriously?” Katara gasped at one point, staring at Suki in awe. “ _How_ have you not even broken a sweat yet?” Katara’s arms didn’t feel solid anymore and her thighs were burning with exertion, but Suki’s strikes were still strong and steady. 

“How are _you_ this out of shape?” Suki laughed jokingly. “You spend hours training in waterbending.”

“I don’t know!” Katara tried to shrug her shoulders, but the motion aggravated the new aches there. “I’m working muscles I didn’t know existed.” She eyed the wood and metal fans in her hands. “I’m not used to having anything in my hands either.” 

“Well, the more you practice, the easier it’ll be,” Suki assured her. “Come, on. We just have a couple more sequences to go through. Finish strong!”

With that encouragement, Katara set her face determinedly and followed Suki through the last half hour of their training session. When her arms began to shake with fatigue, she slowed down her movements, deciding that getting the motions right was more important than putting force into them. The approving look on Suki’s face told Katara she was on the right track. Finally, as the sun reached its height and the noon heat began to settle its weight on the beach, Suki called an end to training for the day.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today.” Suki grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off her forehead. She offered one to Katara, who only smirked as she pulled the beads of sweat into a small globe before dropping it a few feet away onto a clump of beach grass.

“I could have dried you off,” Katara told Suki. 

“It’s fine.” Suki shrugged. “You’re doing really well, you know. Give you another few weeks, and you’ll be as good as Sokka.” Katara quirked an eyebrow. 

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment. Thanks, I guess?” Suki threw her head back and laughed. 

“It’s a compliment,” Suki assured her. “Sokka and I have been training together since I got here. He’s a quick study. But I guess that runs in the family.” Suki eyed Katara appraisingly. “Did you _really_ master waterbending in less than two months?” Katara ducked her head deprecatingly. 

“Well, I earned the mastery level, but I still have a long way to go until I’m anywhere near as good as Master Pakku.” Suki nodded. 

“It’s the same with fighting,” she told Katara. “When a Kyoshi warrior reaches the master level of martial arts, it’s not the end of her training. It’s the complete opposite. The warrior commits to continuing her training for as long as she can. You never really stop learning.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Katara agreed eagerly. “That’s exactly it. I’m technically a master, but there’s still so much I don’t know how to do. Did you know that there are waterbenders who can control plants?” 

“Wow!” Suki’s eyes widened. ‘Can you?”

“Well, not yet,” Katara admitted. “But I’d like to go back and learn from them when I have the chance.” Her stomach let out a loud groan just then. Loud enough for Suki to hear over the crashing waves. The two girls laughed and climbed to their feet. It was definitely time for lunch. 

They arrived just as Sokka came back from getting groceries from the market. He was grinning broadly and clearly was excited about something. 

“Guys! Guys!” Sokka ran up the path to the courtyard, waving a poster in his hand. “Check this out!” Katara and Suki made their way over, dusting the sand from their hands. The others stopped what they were doing, too, and came to see what Sokka was shouting about. He held out the poster which had a picture of a group of familiar-looking people. 

“Is that...us?” Aang leaned in to get a closer look. 

“Someone wrote a play about us!” Sokka laughed. “Isn’t that incredible?” Zuko frowned and took the poster from Sokka. 

“Based on eye witness accounts of the exploits of the Avatar and his cohorts,” Zuko read. “Presented by...the **_Ember Island Players_ **?” 

“Who are the Ember Island Players?” Katara asked, peering over Zuko’s shoulder. He groaned and shook his head. 

“They are the worst theater troupe in the Fire Nation,” he said. “And possibly the world. My mother used to drag us to see them every time we were here. They completely butchered _Love Amongst the Dragons_ , but Mother insisted on seeing them perform.”

“We _have_ to go!” Sokka declared. 

“No way!” Katara said. “Aang and Zuko are too recognizable. It's way too dangerous,”

“Come on!” Sokka begged. “This is exactly the type of tension breaking, time-wasting shenanigans that we need right now! Everyone’s stressed out. That’s not good for morale. We can get disguises for Zuko and Aang. _Please_?”

“Yeah! It’ll be fun!” Aang insisted. 

“We _could_ use a break,” Suki said with a shrug.

“And it’ll be night time!” Sokka reminded Katara. “It’ll be way easier to sneak around. Especially since we have two sneaking around experts on the team.” Katara felt a jolt down her spine. 

“What does _that_ mean?” she demanded. Heat rushed to her cheeks, but she hoped that it could still be mistaken for the exertion of her workout with Suki.

“You know,” Sokka eyed his sister strangely. “You and Zuko doing the whole ninja thing in Ba Sing Se and then tracking Yon Rha.”

“Why, Katara?” Toph asked with a sly smile. “What did you _think_ he meant?” Katara glared at the younger girl. It took everything in her not to look guilty as she turned to Zuko.

“What do you think?” she asked him. Zuko rolled his eyes. 

“I think it’s a bad idea,” he said. “Seriously, the Ember Island Players are _awful_!”

“Then we can have a laugh at how bad they are!” Sokka bounced on the balls of his feet. “It’s just a few hours. We need a break!” Katara sighed and shrugged. They had all been working hard, Katara had to admit. 

“They’re going to be unbearable if we don’t go,” she warned Zuko. “But you know this place better than we do. If you say it’s not safe, we won’t go.” Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes again. Of _course_ it would come down to his decision.

“We can go,” he sighed unhappily. “There’s enough money stashed here that we can rent a whole box. That’d give us some privacy, at least. And as long as we don’t act too suspiciously, I doubt anyone will pay attention to us.” Katara looked from the reluctant frown on Zuko’s face to the eager faces of the rest of their friends and shook her head. She was sure she was going to regret this.

“Alright then,” she relented at last. “I guess we’re going to the theater.” 

“ **_Woo-hoo_ **!” Sokka cheered. He snatched the poster away from Zuko and ran inside, hauling his purchases from the market inside with him. Suki followed him, chatting excitedly about this being their ‘first real date’.

“We should go get ready,” Aang said. He started towards the steps of the porch, but Toph caught him by his elbow.

“Nice try,” she said, dragging him back to the training area. “I’m not done with you yet. Your stance is sloppy, and you need to work on your boulder lifts. Don’t worry. I’ll give you plenty of time to get pretty.” 

Finding herself suddenly alone with Zuko was exactly the opportunity Katara had been waiting for since their kiss in the kitchen. It was also far more awkward than she’d ever imagined. The fact that Zuko was still sans shirt wasn’t helping at all…

“You okay?” Zuko asked. With a start, Katara realized she had been staring. 

“Oh! I’m...I’m fine!” The heat was back in her cheeks. All she could hope was that Zuko didn’t notice her blushing. She cleared her throat and started, “So...anyway…”

“Um...yeah….” Zuko mumbled. Katara gazed up at Zuko hopefully, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. After all, she _had_ made the first move the last time.

Okay, the second move. But it was the move that stuck, so she thought it only fair that Zuko should make the next move. 

Right?

“How are you?” Katara asked. 

“I’m good!” Zuko’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m doing well.”

Inwardly, Katara struggled to keep some measure of cool. Fresh from her sparring session with Suki, she was coated with the salt from the sea and her sweat. She hadn’t seen a mirror yet, but she could feel her hair standing up at weird angles. This was absolutely _not_ how she saw this moment going. Nervously, she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and thought desperately for something halfway intelligent to say. 

“So…” was all she had come up with. 

“You...you have some sand on your cheek,” Zuko told her. Katara hurriedly swiped at her face, berating herself for being so unbelievably unsmooth. 

“Did I get it?” She tilted her face up so Zuko could inspect. 

“Um...no,” he said. “Here, let me…” Zuko cupped her cheek and ran his calloused thumb over her skin. Katara felt for a moment as if she had stopped breathing. It seemed Zuko had frozen, too. The sand was gone, but his hand was still on her cheek. There was that look in his eye again, the same look from the lake and the kitchen, and Katara knew that he was going to kiss her again. 

He did. 

Then Katara realized something she hadn’t had a chance to notice before. Zuko was a _very_ good kisser.

“Hey, Katara!” Suki called out of the open doorway. The two leaped apart, and spun towards Suki as she emerged onto the porch. 

“What’s up, Suki?” Katara asked in that overly bright tone again. “You need something?”

“I just found a bunch of clothes in storage,” Suki told her, apparently oblivious to the discomfort of her friends. “They’re a little old, but they’re in good condition. I thought we could look through them to find something to wear tonight. 

“Oh!” Katara blinked in surprise. “Sure! Give me a few minutes, though. I want to wash up, first.” Suki grimaced and ran a hand through her own grimy hair. 

“Good point,” she said. “I’ll go wash up, too. Meet me in my room in twenty minutes?”

“Works for me!” Katara smiled too widely and waved her off. 

“Are they doing that on purpose?” Zuko asked once she was gone. Katara glanced up at Zuko and rolled her eyes.

"Sure feels like it," she grumbled. 

_.*.*.*.*.*.*._

Katara groaned when she saw the number of steps she would have to climb to get to her seat. Her work out with Suki had left her sore, and the staircase before her looked like a torture device. She watched Sokka, Suki and Toph climb them with ease that left the bitter taste of envy in her mouth.

“Are you alright?” Aang asked from behind her. Katara flashed him a quick rueful smile.

“I’m just sore,” she told him. “Training with Suki was harder than I thought.” 

“I’m sorry, “ Aang said, squeezing past her. He paused and looked at her curiously.   
  


“Why are you training with Suki, anyway?” he asked. “You’re a master waterbender.” Katara gaped at him, unsure of how to answer. 

“It’s always a good idea to have a backup defense,” Zuko had appeared behind Katara, carrying a tray of snacks for everyone. “Katara’s a great waterbender, but waterbending isn’t good for close combat fighting.”

“Exactly,” Katara smiled at Zuko, causing his face to flush a faint pink. He cleared his throat and held out the snack tray to Aang. The younger boy accepted it without hesitation, but with more than a little confusion. 

“You go ahead and take everyone their snacks,” Zuko directed him. He held his arm out for Katara to hold on to. “You look like you need some help.” Katara, blushing slightly, accepted the offer gratefully. Aang took off up the stairs with the tray, not sparing another glance back.

“Thank you,” Katara murmured when she and Zuko were alone. “I didn’t think I’d be able to climb all of these on my own.” 

“Well, all the pain means you’re doing something right,” Zuko assured her conspiratorially. 

“If you say so,” Katara snorted, but she grinned at him with pride.

Soon, they had made it to their box. Aang had just finished emptying his tray when they arrived. He hurried to the last free seats on the front row. He moved back to let Katara take her seat first, and then hurried forward to claim his spot beside her. But Zuko moved faster. Aang stared down at him awkwardly as he settled in next to Katara. 

“Um…” he cleared his throat. “I...I was actually going to sit there.” Zuko looked up at him, his brow furrowed in a mix of confusion and annoyance. He pointed to the seat beside him. 

“You can sit here,” he said. “I promise the view is pretty much the same.” Aang started to protest again, but the theater lights had begun to dim. Katara looked up at him with a frown. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Oh...uh….nothing,” Aang stammered. “I just thought we could…”

“We can talk later,” Katara cut him off. “The play’s about to start. Sit down.” Aang obeyed, reluctantly. 

His disappointment didn’t last long, though. Soon, he was too distracted by the play to be upset about the seating arrangement. 

The play was _awful_ **!** Everyone except Toph seemed to agree that everything was _all_ wrong. Katara was too weepy. Sokka was too dim. _Aang_ was being played by a woman for spirits’ sake! Suki wasn’t even mentioned in the play. 

“They’re making me look stiff and humorless!” Zuko complained halfway through the first act. At this, Katara smirked up at him- the first time the play had made her smile.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I think they got you spot on.” 

“How could you _say_ that?” Zuko cried. A moment later, the actor playing Zuko turned to the actor playing Iroh aghast at the aged general’s last line.

“ _How_ could you _say_ that?” he demanded. Around him Zuko’s friends erupted into laughter, but he didn’t seem to mind too much when Katara put a hand on his arm and tried to smother her giggles in his shoulder.

Aang agreed with Zuko, though. The play had gotten _everyone_ wrong. Aang in the play was flighty, immature, and more concerned with having a good time than being serious. Katara and Zuko had supposedly fallen in love in the catacombs in Ba Sing Se. The final straw, though, was the way his relationship with Katara was portrayed. 

“I love you!” The actress playing Katara cooed at the actress playing Aang. “You’re the little brother I never had!” Aang tried to catch Katara’s eye and laugh with her about how dumb that was, but she was busy saying something to Zuko. Whatever he said in reply made her laugh. Aang felt his throat clench. _Why_ hadn’t he insisted on sitting beside her? 

The rest of the play was almost as equally infuriatingly bad. Finally, the curtain dropped and the audience was freed for intermission. The Gaang stood up and exchanged unimpressed looks with each other.

“Well, you were right Zuko,” Sokka admitted. “This play is _lousy_.” 

“You want to leave?” Zuko asked hopefully. Sokka shook his head.

“Nah. I mean, we already paid for our tickets.”  
  


“He just wants to make out with Suki when the lights go out again,” Toph snorted. Sokka sputtered and protested his innocence, but the matching blushes on his and Suki’s faces suggested that Toph had hit on the truth. 

“Besides,” she continued. “I like the play!” Katara rolled her eyes. 

“ _You_ like to be contrary,” she said. Toph shrugged with a grin.

“That, too.” She spun on her heel and walked off towards the stairs, and announced, “I need to find the bathroom. Someone come with me so I go to the right one.”

“I’ll take you,” Zuko offered. “I need to go, too.” He followed Toph down the stairs. A moment later, Sokka took Suki’s hand and told Katara and Aang that they were going to see if they could find the souvenir table.

“Why on earth would you want a souvenir?” Katara asked. “You don’t even like the play.”

“They might have a doll of me!” Sokka explained. “And I want to make sure I get everyone one.” Katara rolled her eyes again, but Sokka ignored her as he and Suki left the box. 

Once they were alone, Katara finally noticed Aang’s mood. She nudged him and motioned with her head to the door. 

“How about we go get some air?” she suggested. Aang sighed but agreed with only token reluctance. Katara led the way to a balcony off the main floor. It was surprisingly and happily empty. Aang hurried over to the edge, leaning against the stone railing, and took a deep breath of the cool, salty air.

“Hey, are you okay?” Katara leaned beside Aang on the banister. 

“I’m fine,” Aang grunted, not meeting her eyes. Still, he could feel the weight of her gaze on him. It was like she was reading his soul. He risked a quick glance from the corner of his eye and saw Katara watching him with a soft, concerned look. 

“Was it the play?” she asked. Aang sighed and looked out over the balcony. The main street was dark, but in the distance Aang could see the lights from some of the hillside villas. 

“Yeah,” he admitted at last. “I just...I got so upset.” Katara’s hand came up to rest on his shoulder, and she squeezed it gently. 

“I know the play isn’t painting us in the best light, but it’s just a play. You know we’re going to get through this, right? We’ll do whatever it takes to help you win this war.” That sent a chill down Aang’s spine. He turned away from Katara with a frown. 

“What about the other part?” he asked. 

“What other part?” Aang wasn’t looking at Katara, but he could picture her head tilting to the side, spilling her wealth of dark curls over her shoulder. 

“The part about how you see me as a brother?” Aang’s heart thudded in his chest as he faced Katara. Her head was down and her hair had formed a barrier to her face. It made Aang unaccountably angry. 

“You can’t really be upset with _that_ part. We _are_ good friends-” Katara started to say.

“What if that’s not enough?” he demanded. 

“Aang-”

“I mean...we kissed at the invasion,” Aang plowed on. “Didn’t that mean anything?”

“Look, Aang, that was a really intense day,” Katara said. “I think we both-”

“I thought...I thought we’d be together after that.” Aang stared at Katara, hoping his eyes would communicate what his words apparently weren’t. “I mean, you do like me, right?”

“Aang, you’re one of my best friends,” Katara said. “Of _course_ I love you-”

“That’s _not_ what I meant!” Aang yelled. Katara flinched away, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You like me, too, right? You like me the way I like you?” 

“It’s not that simple,” Katara said. Aang stomped his foot angrily. The stone balcony shuddered slightly between them. 

“ _Why_ isn’t it that simple?” he demanded. “You and me….we’re destiny!”

“Aang, calm down!” Katara’s voice was sharp. It wasn’t the soft, gentle tone Aang had spent weeks- months!- dreaming of. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go!

“Tell me why we aren’t together!” Even to Aang’s ears, the words sounded whiney. But he was too far gone to stop now. 

“Aang…!” Katara sounded exasperated. 

Here Aang was pouring out his heart, and she was annoyed? Aang acted without thought. His hand grabbed her shoulders and yanked her forward, and then he kissed her. More forceful and desperate than the last time. This time, though, Katara reacted. She threw herself backward. Then the side of Aang’s face erupted in pain. It took a moment to realize that she had actually _slapped_ him!

“What…” Aang stared at her in shock. “Y-you hit me…”

“Why did you do that?” Katara demanded. Her chest heaved angrily, and her face had gone deep red in rage. 

“I...I just wanted to show you how I feel!” Aang blinked hard against the sting of tears. “I’m in love with you, Katara. Don’t you see that? I love you!”

“No!” There were tears in Katara’s eyes too, and she scrubbed them away angrily. “No, you don’t love me! If you loved me, you would listen to me!” 

“I listen!” Aang reached for Katara’s hands, but she jumped away from his grasp. 

  
“No, you don’t!” Katara told him. “This entire conversation has been about _you_ and what _you_ want. Aang, I love you. But as a friend. I’m not _in_ love with you.” Aang reeled back as if she had hit him again. But this felt worse. So much worse than when she had slapped him. He bowed his head and fought against the tears threatening to spill. 

“Is...is someone else?” he asked. “Is this about Zuko?” 

“No!’ Katara answered him way too fast, Aang thought. “This isn’t about Zuko. It’s about _me_. I don’t want to be with you. And I wouldn’t want to be with you, no matter who you thought was in the way.” 

“But _I’m_ your destiny!” Aang pleaded. He _had_ to make her understand. 

“You are _not_ my destiny!” Katara ran her hands over her face and sighed. 

“Yes I am!” Aang tugged at Katara’s hand, and she didn’t fight him this time! “Don’t you remember? The fortuneteller! Aunt Wu said you’d marry a powerful bender-”

“How did you know that?” Katara’s head shot up and her eyes flashed dangerously. “That was private!”

“I...I wasn’t trying to listen,” Aang felt his face heat up at the blatant lie. “I just...I was going to ask her something and I happened to overhear what she said. Katara, she said you’d marry a powerful bender-”  
  


“There are lots of powerful benders, Aang.” Katara was pulling away again, but Aang didn’t try to cling to her hand like he wanted to. “ _I’m_ a powerful bender.”

“But I’m the most powerful bender!” 

“I’m not in love with you!” Katara said again, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter how powerful you are, or what you _thought_ Aunt Wu meant. I don’t feel that way about you.” Aang took a step back. His entire body clenched tightly around itself. This was a dream...a nightmare. Any moment he’d wake up and Katara would be the happy, smiling girl he had fallen for, and he would still be destined to be with her. 

“You’re wrong,” he managed to whisper at last. 

“What?”

“You’re wrong, Katara!” Aang looked up at her, angry and determined. “Maybe you don’t see it now, but you and I _are_ destiny!”

“Just because you’re the Avatar doesn’t mean you get to decide what my destiny is!” Katara drew up to her full height, which was still, Aang noted with dismay, taller than him. She bore down on him angrily. “You don’t have some special insight into _my_ future!” 

Aang stared up at her uncomprehendingly. She looked so... _angry_. And at that moment, Aang could almost believe he was wrong. He could almost believe he wouldn’t end up with her in the end. He couldn’t be wrong, though. If he didn’t end up with Katara, after everything he had been through- with everything he was expected still to go through- then what was the point of it all?

Katara’s eyes flashed angrily. It didn’t seem like she was about to collapse into his arms and declare that she had made a huge mistake. She had the same stubborn look in her eyes that she had when she found out Jet wanted to flood that village. Or when Pakku told her he wouldn’t teach her because she was a girl. Aang had often thought that he was glad to never have been on the receiving end of that look. Now she leveled it at him like a weapon. A short sob forced its way out of Aang’s throat. And then he turned and fled into the crowded theater. 

.*.*.*.*.*.

Zuko was not happy. Not that he ever was, but right now he was _particularly_ unhappy. He should have known better than to agree to come to this stupid play, yet he had gone against his better judgment. The play was as poorly written and laughably acted as he expected, but watching the outright insulting portrayal of himself was almost too much to bear. The intermission would be over soon, and he had half a mind to just walk out of the theater. Sokka and Suki had gone back to their seats already, though. Toph was getting snacks. He had no idea where Katara and Aang were.. If Zuko left, he’d have to go alone. 

“Hey! Great Zuko costume,” Some kid dressed as Aang had stopped where Zuko was leaning against the wall, debating his solo escape.

“Sure, whatever,” Zuko grumbled. He’d hoped the kid would leave, but the young man peered up at him critically. 

“Except the scar is on the wrong side,” he said with a shrug. Zuko balked and glowered menacingly at the boy. With a gulp, he scampered off.

“It’s not on the wrong side!” Zuko shouted after him. He crossed his arms, scowling at any passersby dumb enough to make eye-contact. He hated coming to see the Ember Island Players!

A gong sounded through the house, alerting the audience that the intermission would be over soon. Zuko saw someone he thought might be Aang run from the balcony and into the auditorium. How he could be so anxious to get back to the show was beyond Zuko, but there were a lot of things about Aang he just didn’t get. Zuko was about to head back in himself when he saw Katara come in from the balcony. 

“Katara?” Zuko forgot his sulky mood immediately when he caught sight of her visible agitation. His alarm grew when she threw herself in his arms and buried her face in his chest.“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Zuko held Katara and scanned the crowd over her shoulder, looking for who or what had upset her. 

“Can we leave?” she asked him. She looked up at him and Zuko saw she was fighting back tears. 

“What happened?” he pressed. “Katara, did someone hurt you?” It sounded absurd even as the words left Zuko’s mouth. Katara was more than formidable enough to handle any of this crowd of the pampered and indolent. But if someone _had_ hurt her, Zuko swore swift and painful retribution. 

“I just want to go home,” Katara pleaded. “Can we please just go?”

“O...okay,” Zuko looked around for their friends, but he only saw Toph at the concession stand. The others must have gone back to their seats already. “I’ll go get everyone.” He started to go back to their box, but Katara caught his hand. 

“No!” she said. “I don’t...I don’t want them to see me like this.” Zuko froze. He had not been expecting that, and he began to protest, but the words died on his lips when he saw the tears threatening to spill. He nodded mutely and kissed Katara’s forehead. 

“I’ll tell Toph to tell the others we’re leaving,” he said. “Then we’ll go, alright?” Katara nodded and wiped at her eyes. 

“What’s up with you, Sparky?” Toph asked when he came up to her. 

“Katara isn’t feeling well,” Zuko told her. “I’m going to take her home.” Toph’s nose scrunched in a rare show of concern. 

“You want me to get the others?” she asked. Zuko shook his head. 

“No. I think...I think she’s upset about something.” Zuko glanced over his shoulder and saw Katara hunched against the wall with her arms drawn protectively around herself. “She doesn’t want everyone fussing over her.”

“Alright,” Toph said. “I’ll cover for you. But so help me, if this is just an excuse for you and Sugar Queen to canoodle-”

“... _Good-bye_ , Toph.” Zuko rolled his eyes and started to turn away, but Toph caught the edge of his cloak. 

“Hey,” she said, suddenly serious. “If someone hurt Katara, make them pay. You know...assuming she left anything behind.” Zuko let out an involuntary huff of laughter and then hurried back to Katara. 

“We’re set,” he told her, throwing an arm protectively around her shoulders. “Let’s go.” 

On their way out, Zuko scanned the crowd once more, looking for anyone who might be eyeing Katara wrong. No one paid any special attention to the two teens ducking out of the show early. Katara seemed intent on not saying anything. Eventually, she tugged his arm from around her shoulders, but she held onto his hand, locking their fingers together. This was the most physical affection they had shown in public since they became...whatever it was they were to each other. 

Katara remained quiet all the way back to the mansion. When they got back, Katara finally dropped Zuko’s hand and made her way down to the beach. Something told Zuko she expected him to follow. Or rather, she didn’t tell him _not_ to follow, and he wasn’t inclined to leave her on her own in her current state. At the water’s edge, Katara paced for a few moments before coming to a stop in front of Zuko.

“What are we doing?” she asked him. Zuko had no idea what she was referring to. He floundered for an answer, opening and closing a few times before he managed to stammer,

“I- I don’t know. What are we doing about what?”

“About us!” Katara shouted. She motioned between them. ‘About this. We need to talk about what’s happening.”

“I...Do you….” Zuko stuttered. “Do you not want this to-”

“I like you, Zuko!” Katara declared. She bit down on her lip so hard, Zuko was worried she’d draw blood. “I like you a lot.”

“I...I like you, too.” Blood rushed to Zuko’s cheeks, but his excitement was tempered by concern. Katara seemed really upset, and he wasn’t sure what to do. “Katara are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” She waved him off. “I just...I want to get this in the open. I need to know what we’re doing.” Katara gazed up at him pleadingly. She looked lovely in the light of the half-moon, Zuko observed. He cupped her face in his hands and rested his forehead against hers. She brought her hands up to his wrists and squeezed her eyes shut as if she were caught in a typhoon and he was her only anchor. Zuko had never felt more needed in his life. It was wonderful and solemnly frightening at the same time.

“We’re doing whatever you want,” he whispered. Katara’s eyes flew open and she pulled away slightly, but she kept her hold on him.

“No!” she said firmly. “We need to _both_ decide on this. It can’t be just me making decisions, because....” Katara’s voice trailed off. She turned away, casting her gaze out over the ocean.

“Because what?” Zuko asked. “You can tell me.” Katara shut her eyes again and took a deep breath.

“If we do this,” she said slowly. “I don’t want to hide it.” Zuko didn’t think he had anything left in him to be surprised, but he was wrong. 

“You… you don’t?” 

“No.” Katara shook her head. “We don’t have anything to hide. I’m not ashamed to like you.” She stared up at Zuko searchingly, biting her lip again. Zuko freed one of his hands from Katara’s grip and gently tugged her lip from between her teeth.

“I’m not ashamed to like you either,” he told her softly. Katara smiled at that, though her eyes still gleamed with unshed tears. 

“So, this is it?” she asked. “We’re officially a thing? Boyfriend, girlfriend, or whatever?” Zuko let out a bark of laughter.

“Yeah,” he chuckled nervously. “We’re boyfriend, girlfriend, or whatever.” They closed the space between them for their first kiss as an official couple. Neither cared anymore if anyone caught them. Although it was easy to be brave when there was little chance of anyone catching them. 

“What happened earlier?” Zuko asked after a long while. Katara lifted her head from his shoulder as if she had been shocked. Zuko caught a glimpse of a self-conscious expression on her face before she turned.

“Oh…” she said. “That...that wasn’t a big deal.” 

“Seemed like a big deal.” Zuko raised his brow skeptically. 

“It wasn’t,” Katara promised, but her fidgeting suggested otherwise. “I ...I had a fight with Aang. It was pretty bad.”

“You had a fight with _Aang_?” Zuko was genuinely shocked. If Katara hadn’t been so clearly upset, he might have laughed. The closest he had seen Aang come to disagreeing with anyone was when he and Katara had gone to find Yon Rah. Privately, Zuko thought the kid was a doormat. But he had somehow managed to upset Katara to the point that she wanted to leave the play early. 

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Zuko asked. Katara sighed and turned to Zuko. He quickly added. “You don’t _have_ to. But if you want to talk, I’ll listen.” Katara didn’t say anything for a long while, but a slow smile spread across her face. Zuko felt his heart quicken.

“You know, I think you’re going to be good at this whole boyfriend thing,” she told him. A full, deep blush spread over Zuko’s face and neck. 

‘Well...um….thanks,” he stammered. “You, too. I mean...you’re going to be a good girlfriend?” 

Katara tried really hard not to laugh. She really did, but she found Zuko adorable when he was flustered, and she was still giddy with happiness. One giggle slipped out involuntarily. Then another. In a moment, she had collapsed into Zuko’s side in helpless laughter. When she glanced up and saw Zuko’s discomfort, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, just where his scar met his unblemished skin.

“You’re really cute,” she told him. “I’m laughing because you’re cute.” Zuko scowled at that, but there was no heat in it.

“Cute?” he scoffed. “That makes me sound like a panda-squirrel. I’m not cute. I’m mean.” 

“Grumpy,” Katara countered, kissing him again, this time just beneath his eye. Zuko’s scowl slipped a bit, but he held it as best he could. 

“I’m terrifying,” he insisted stubbornly. 

“A real tough guy,” Katara agreed playfully. Her lips landed on the edge of his nose. This time, Zuko couldn’t stop his grin, though he was sure his face was bright red by now. 

“I am _not_ cute,” he declared. Katara shifted so she was kneeling on the sand in front of him. She pressed her forehead against his. 

“You are _very_ cute,” she said before she leaned in to place a kiss on his mouth. Zuko wanted to protest, but any arguments died in his throat when Katara’s lips parted under his. 

_Alright, fine_ **,** he relented silently. He brushed his hands past Katara’s cheeks and tangled his fingers in her hair. _I guess I’m cute_ **.**

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

“The others will be back soon,” Zuko said. “We should probably go back to the house.” Katara sighed and tightened her arm around Zuko’s middle. 

“But I’m comfortable,” she groaned. Zuko grinned down at the top of her head. The truth was he was feeling a bit stiff from sitting in one position for so long. He had been leaning against a boulder for the better part of an hour, and the chill of the night air was beginning to settle on him. He was loath to move before Katara- who was resting her head on his chest- was ready, but he couldn’t feel his legs anymore. While he debated whether or not to say something, a particularly strong breeze blew across the beach and sent a shiver down Zuko’s back. Katara shot up and turned to Zuko, her eyes full of concern.

“Wait!” she said. “Are _you_ cold?” Zuko felt a sudden rush of heat to his cheeks, which only highlighted the sudden loss of warmth from Katara. 

“Well...well, I-” Zuko stammered. “You were comfortable, and I didn’t want to...um…” 

“Zuko, I want _you_ to be comfortable, too!” Katara rolled her eyes and climbed to her feet. Then she reached her hand out towards Zuko. He stared at it in confusion for a moment before he realized she was trying to help him up. He grasped her hand and allowed her to haul him to his feet. 

“You have to tell me when you’re cold and stuff,” Katara chided him gently. When he finished dusting the sand from his pants, Katara tucked herself beneath Zuko’s arm. “Seriously, I’m from the Southern Pole. I have a much higher tolerance for cold than most people.” 

“Sorry,” Zuko mumbled. Katara leaned up on her tiptoes and gave Zuko a peck on his jawline. 

“ _I’m_ sorry,” she said. “I should have asked if you were okay staying on the beach.” 

“I was,” Zuko insisted. Katara looked up at him skeptically. Zuko shrugged. “I mean, I was for a while. It was just the last twenty minutes or so…”

“Well, next time just tell me you want to move,” Katara said. “I told you, we’re _both_ in this relationship. We _both_ need to be comfortable. That goes for everything, got it?” Zuko couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. 

“I got it,” he promised. 

The mansion was dark as the pair made their way back up the beach. Katara noted it with some worry. The others really should have been back by then, she thought. Zuko suggested they probably stopped to grab a snack or something. After all, between Sokka, Toph, and Aang one of them was likely to insist on stopping at one of the food carts on the way home. That calmed Katara slightly, but only just. 

“If they aren’t home in twenty minutes, we’re going after them,” Katara said. 

“Yes, dear,” Zuko retorted with a smirk. That pulled a laugh from Katara. 

“I know you’re joking,’ she said as they entered the courtyard. “But I like the sound of that.” 

“Really?” Zuko kissed the top of Katara’s head. “Yes, dear.”

The front door of the mansion burst open just then and Sokka stormed out onto the porch in a fury. 

“ _WHERE_ have you two been?” he demanded. “We got home and all the lights were off! Toph said Katara was upset about something! You didn’t leave a note! We thought something had happened to you two, and we couldn’t find any spark rocks to...to...Wait…Hold on!” Sokka had finally calmed enough to notice that Katara and Zuko still had their arms around each other. He looked from his sister to his friend in confusion. The rest of their friends spilled out onto the porch behind him. They also looked between Katara and Zuko uncomprehendingly. 

“Um…” Aang broke the silence first. “What’s…”

“Is this a thing?” Sokka demanded, pointing at the two of them. Specifically Zuko’s arm around Katara’s shoulder and her arm around his waist. “Are you two…” His hands waved through the air, making confusing gestures that Katara couldn’t, and didn’t want to, guess the meaning of.

“Um...yeah,” she answered. “This is...We’re together.”

“Oh…I...Umm….” Sokka stammered. He turned to the rest of the group for someone to say something…. _anything_...to say in response. 

“How long has this been going on?” Suki asked. 

“A couple of days,” Katara answered at the same time as Zuko said,

“Like an hour and a half.” 

Katara looked up at Zuko, clearly startled. 

“You don’t count from...from the kitchen?” she asked him. 

“What happened in the kitchen?” Aang demanded.

‘Well, kind of,” Zuko told Katara with a shrug. “But we only _just_ made it official, so I thought….”

“ _WHAT_ happened in the kitchen?” Aang’s voice rang out in the night air. 

“Nothing,” Katara said quickly. 

“So you did ditch us so you could canoodle!” Toph laughed at the pair. “ _Sure_ Katara was upset.”

Laughter rippled through the group, but Aang didn’t see what was so funny. His body quaked with anger, and his hands were clenched tightly at his side. He caught Katara’s eye, allowing all the hurt and betrayal he felt bleed into his gaze. She couldn’t keep his eye. After a moment she ducked her head away from him, as if ashamed. But, Aang noticed, she never let go of Zuko. Aang felt his eyes stinging with a warning of tears, and he turned and fled inside the house. If anyone called after him, he didn’t hear them. All he could think about was Katara clutching Zuko as if he would disappear if she let him go.


	3. Part 3

**_Part 3_ **

Aang hated the war. He hated that he had been forced to master all the elements in less than a year. And he _really_ hated that the only firebending master available to teach him was now dating the girl of Aang’s dreams. 

“You’re getting sloppy Aang,” Zuko chided him during a training session. “You’ve got the aggression behind the move, but you’re not controlling it the way you should. You had this move down a couple of days ago. What happened?”

What had happened was Aang had seen Zuko and Katara coming back from an early morning stroll on the beach. They stopped short of the courtyard for a quick kiss, thinking that no one could see them, but Aang had been waiting for Zuko to begin training. He could see them from where he stood, but they apparently couldn’t see him. 

“Why are you so distracted today?” Zuko asked.

Maybe it was because two hours after Aang poured his heart out to her, Katara ran off and started dating Zuko? That was pretty distracting!

Aang bowed his head and mumbled an apology. Then, when Zuko wasn’t looking, he rolled his eyes in disgust. 

“Why don’t we end early?” Zuko suggested. “I don’t think we’re going to get any further today.”

Relief flooded Aang, and he looked up to thank Zuko, but he froze when he caught sight of Katara on the verandah. She had clearly been watching them. 

_No,_ not _them_ , Aang corrected himself. She had been watching _Zuko._ Aang glanced at his friend and fought down a scowl. Did he _have_ to train without a shirt? 

“Are you guys done?” Katara called out across the courtyard. “Breakfast is ready, if you are.” 

“Awesome!” Zuko exclaimed, jogging up to her. “I’m starved.” Aang hung back and watched them.

They turned and headed inside without even _thinking_ about waiting for him. They were more obnoxious than Sokka and Suki, the way the backs of their hands glanced off each other when they laughed together. Aang swallowed a sour taste in his mouth before he followed them into the mansion, though he had lost his appetite for breakfast. 

No one seemed to notice that Aang didn’t eat breakfast. Or that he was unusually quiet. Sokka and Suki were busy making eyes at each other. Zuko and Katara were busy laying out breakfast. Toph...well, Toph may have noticed, but she didn’t care enough to comment. _She_ was too busy teasing Katara and Zuko about their new relationship. 

“It’s all so clear to me now,” she chortled as she grabbed a sausage link from the plate Zuko had brought over.. “All those times you volunteered to cook or clean. You were just trying to get on Sugar Queen’s good side, weren’t you?”

“Knock it off, Toph,” Zuko grumbled. His face flushed a light pink, though. Was Toph right, Aang wondered. Had Katara chosen Zuko because he did chores? Aang did chores! All Katara had to do was ask!

For the rest of the day, Aang kept to himself as much as possible. Toph got frustrated during their training session and trapped him in stone up to his neck. She refused to let him go, no matter how he pleaded.

“Get yourself out,” she snapped at him. “It’s basic earthbending!” Aang struggled pitifully against his prison. After about ten minutes Toph stormed up to him, her nose nearly pressed against his, and seething in rage. 

“What in Koh’s Lair is the matter with you?” she demanded. “I taught you six maneuvers to get out of situations like this in our second week of training! _Why_ aren’t you focusing?” Aang had no reply. Beyond Toph, he saw Katara exit the beach house, Zuko trailing behind her with everyone’s washing. Toph took a surprised step backward. Her face was scrunched up in confusion, but when she heard Katara laugh at something Zuko said, she groaned in disgust. 

“You _can’t_ be serious.” Aang bowed his head with as much embarrassment as shame. Toph let out another disgusted sigh and stomped on the ground. The stone encasing Aang slipped back into the ground, leaving him free. 

“I would have figured it out,” Aang protested weakly. 

“Save it, Aang!” Toph snapped. “You do realize that we’re all spending this time training you so you don’t die, right?” Aang opened his mouth to reply, but Toph held her hand up. “Get over it. Get over yourself. Get over your mental blocks. Get over _her_ ! Life isn’t always going to go the way you want it, but you can’t fall to pieces every time something doesn’t go according to _your_ plan.”   
  


“What do you know?” Aang felt his anger flare up, and he was ready for a fight. “You don’t even-!”  
  


“I don’t want to hear it!” Toph cut Aang off before he could start his tirade. “We have two weeks to get you ready to face the _Fire Lord_ ! If you don’t shape up, that’s going to end with you as a greasy smear of Avatar butter.” Toph sneered at Aang. She couldn’t see his face, but Aang knew she could tell her barb had hit its target. She shook her head. “We’re done here. Go...meditate or whatever. Get yourself together. I don’t _ever_ want another training session this sloppy, you hear me?”

“...yes,” Aang mumbled.

He wanted to heed Toph’s advice, truly he did. He went to the springs, thinking it would be a good place to meditate, but Katara and Zuko were there, doing the laundry. Or at least that’s what they were _supposed_ to be doing. Instead, they were just standing by the water, Katara’s arms wrapped tightly around Zuko, and his forehead pressed against hers. Aang was just close enough to make out what Katara was saying. 

“You didn’t deserve it,” she told Zuko in that fierce tone she used when she was fighting injustice. “Whatever he told you, you didn’t deserve what he did to you. This,” Katara pulled back slightly so she could look Zuko in his eyes, and brushed the side of his face with her hand, “This is a mark of bravery. It means you fight for people who can’t fight for themselves. Just like in Ba Sing Se…”  
  


Aang backtracked as quickly and quietly as he could. He didn’t need to hear...or _see_ anything more. Ba Sing Se didn’t hold the memories for him it apparently held for the happy pair. Before, when he thought of Ba Sing Se, he didn’t think about the pain of Azula’s lightning, or his desperate attempt to enter the Avatar State. He thought about afterward, on the ship, the close intimate healing sessions with Katara, or the day he decided to forgive her for sinking the Fire Navy ship. Now, he would only ever think of Katara sneaking off with Zuko to do spirits knew what….

The beach! Aang decided the beach would be a better place to meditate. It wasn’t ideal- the water would inevitably make him think of Katara- but there was an outcropping of rocks that would be difficult to summit without airbending. He could be reasonably sure of not running into...anyone up there. 

Aang’s mood hadn’t improved by that evening, and he ended up skipping dinner. Suki brought a plate to his room, saying that his friends had been worried when he didn’t show up. It was clear to him then that Katara was avoiding him as much as he had been avoiding her and Zuko, and Aang wasn’t sure how he felt about it. But, he considered, if she couldn’t face him, maybe it meant that she knew deep down that she had made the wrong choice. 

The next morning, when he showed up for training with Zuko, Aang found Katara waiting with him. Aang froze in the doorway when he saw them. They hadn’t seen him yet. Katara was saying something to Zuko, who was nodding along solemnly. Aang’s mouth went dry, and his thoughts began running through all the reasons Katara was there. Neither of them looked especially happy. Maybe they had had an argument. Maybe Katara realized that she and Zuko were just too different to work. Maybe she realized that her infatuation with Zuko was just a brief bad-boy phase that she was coming out of. Maybe-

“Get a move on, Twinkle Toes!” A jolt of surprise ran down Aang’s spine. He spun around to find Toph standing behind him. Suki and Sokka were not far behind, both looking groggy but dressed for the day. Sokka waved at Aang while rubbing his eye with his other hand.

“Chop, chop!” Toph huffed when Aang didn’t respond. Then she shoved him unceremoniously through the door. Aang caught himself just before he tumbled down the stairs. Katara and Zuko were staring at him when he looked up. Their hands were doing that just barely touching thing that Aang was quickly learning to hate. He stood up and straightened out his clothes and chuckled awkwardly. 

“H-hey, everyone,” he said. “What’s...ah...what’s going on? Why are you all up.”

“We decided to combine your training,” Zuko explained. 

“Why?” Aang looked between his teachers. This wouldn’t be his first mixed training session, but this felt different somehow. 

“You’re about to take on the Fire Lord,” Sokka said. Even groggy as he still clearly was, there was a gravity in his voice that made Aang want to turn and go back inside. If only Toph hadn’t been in his way. 

“Do I just not have a say in anything that happens with me anymore?” he demanded. “None of you bothered to _ask_ how I felt about this. I’ve barely started firebending training.”

“Well, if you’d stop hiding whenever things get uncomfortable, you would have been there for the vote,” Toph shrugged. “We called the meeting yesterday and we had it over dinner. Not our fault you didn’t show up.” Aang started to protest, but none of his friends seemed to be on his side. 

“I did try to tell you last night when I brought your dinner,” Suki said. “Didn’t you hear me?” As a matter of fact, Aang hadn’t heard her. 

“This’ll be good for you, Aang,” Katara said. Her hair was pulled back into the tight braid she had always kept it in until they got to the Fire Nation. Aang had liked it before, but now it looked severe. It brought out a new sharpness in Katara’s cheeks that Aang was certain hadn’t been there just a couple of months ago. She looked years older, and she looked as fierce as the Water Tribe warriors she grew up with. It was clear that there would be no arguing with her...with any of his friends. So Aang surrendered. 

Training was brutal. No one held anything back. Not even Sokka and Suki. They gave him a difficult time, although they weren’t benders. Aang realized then that he had never really had to defend himself against weapons. When he pointed that out, however, he was met with stony stares and grim assurances that a sword or an arrow could kill him just as dead as fire and lightning. 

In the middle of the morning, they finally stopped for a quick breakfast consisting of last night’s leftovers. Toph and Sokka ate fast, even for them, and ran out to the courtyard together. From inside, the others could hear the ground shifting and rocks smashing together, but either no one knew what Toph and Sokka were doing, or they didn’t think Aang needed to know. No one mentioned it over their quiet meal. 

When they finished their meal, Aang leaped up to volunteer to do the dishes. He beamed at Katara, despite being worn out from that morning’s training, but she just nodded once in approval. Then she left with the others to see what Toph and Sokka had been working on. Before he was left alone to clear the table, Aang saw Katara reach out to lace her fingers through Zuko’s. It took every bit of his patience not to dash all the dishes in his hands against the hardwood floor. At the very least, he thought, Katara could have smiled. 

Aang made short work of the dishes and rushed outside, grabbing his glider on the way. Later Katara would find bits of their breakfast clinging to the porcelain, but for the moment the work was done. Aang found his friends waiting for him in the middle of a battleground. He stared in awe at the stone soldiers glowering down at him. Or they would have been glowering if Toph had bothered to give them eyes. This is what she and Sokka had been working on. In the span of about an hour, they had transformed the training ground into the site of a mock attack. Some of the dummy soldiers even had weapons that looked genuinely dangerous. 

“Aren’t they great?” Sokka chortled gleefully and threw an arm around Aang. “Toph did the execution, but these are all my design.”

‘ _Excuse_ you?” Toph snarled. “You had the idea, but you had no idea how to make them work-”

“Okay, fine,” Sokka cut her off impatiently. “We _both_ made _equal_ contributions.”

“What _is_ all of this?” Aang asked in awe. Sokka beamed at him proudly. 

“I call it _Operation: Ready for Anything,_ ” he declared. “We want to make sure you actually _are_ prepared for anything. Toph?” Sokka turned to signal the earthbender. Toph stomped her foot and about half of the twenty or so earthen soldiers disappeared into the ground. 

“Alright, everyone!” she shouted “We’re under attack!” Then Sokka lifted his sword to the sky and let out a battle cry, and as if that were the planned on signal, everyone else jumped into the action. 

The group worked together like a well-trained unit. Even in the middle of the mock battle, Aang could appreciate the way everyone flowed together. They tore through dirt soldier after dirt soldier as they popped up out of the ground. He even had to admit- begrudgingly- that Katara and Zuko worked well as a unit. It was as if they had been training to work together for years, even though they had been on opposing sides just a few short months ago. Aang turned from them and gave his attention back to the battle. 

Aang took the dirt and clay soldiers down with attacks aimed at their knees and their arms. He was precise and he felt more formidable than he had ever felt in his life. Around him, he heard the sound of metal smashing ceramic and the _whoosh_ of flame and water through their opponents. Aang let out a jubilant cry of victory. At this rate, he was certain that he and his friends were practically assured a victory against the Fire Nation. 

Suddenly, the ground began to quake violently, and the fighters stumbled as they tried to keep their footing. Toph, laughing manically, opened the ground before them. From the pit she had opened rose the largest earth soldier of the day. Until then, the soldiers had been simple creations of vaguely humanoid statues. This one, though...this one stood taller than Hakoda, and just as broad. It wore a tattered red cape, and a large melon served as its head. Most bizarrely of all, though, was the cheap bronze crown on its head. Aang faltered. In his confusion he could only stare at the golem. He wasn’t sure what he was looking at. 

“What is this one supposed to be?” he asked. His friends had stopped fighting when they noticed he had. 

“Duh! It’s the Fire Lord,” Sokka told him. “See his crown?”

“We thought it would help you if you practiced fighting him,” Suki explained. “When I trained my warriors, I had to find ways to help the newer ones get comfortable with battle.”

“But...I’ve been in fights before,”Aang reminded her. A confused frown tugged at his mouth.“I know how to fight.” Around him, Aang’s friends exchanged uncomfortable looks. 

“This is different,” Katara said. It was the first time she’d spoken directly to him since the night on the balcony. Her tone was firm, but gentle, like when she began teaching him waterbending. Aang’s stomach lurched wistfully. 

“How’s it different?” he asked. “I beat Zhao. I saved Aunt Wu’s village from a volcano. I beat _Zuko_ in Kyoshi!” There was that irritating exchange of glances between Aang’s friends again. Sokka sighed and stepped up, putting his hand on Aang’s shoulder. 

“When you face the Fire Lord,” he explained, ‘you won’t be fighting to get away from him. This isn’t going to be just _live_ _to see another day,_ Aang. You have to end it.”

“E-end it?”Aang stumbled back, away from Sokka’s touch. “What do you mean, end it?” This time, the exchange of glances was accompanied by a long, uncomfortable silence. It was as if they were having a conversation that Aang wasn’t invited to join.

“Aang, Ozai isn’t going to go easy on you because you’re a kid,” Zuko told him. “When you face him…” Zuko shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Katara slipped her hand into his and turned her sad, blue eyes up to him. “When you face him, he’s not going to fight to incapacitate you.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Aang drew up defensively. 

“You can’t be serious!” Sokka groaned. “Aang, Ozai will _kill_ you if he can!” Aang rounding on Sokka and glared at him.

“I won’t let him kill me,” he said. Sokka, unimpressed, folded his arms and met Aang’s glare with his own.

“And how exactly do you plan to stop him?” Sokka asked. “Did you somehow manage to master the Avatar State and just forgot to mention it to us?”

“No!” Everyone was watching Aang. He was used to being the center of attention, but this was different. The waves of barely contained impatience and anger coming from his friends were almost visible. But Aang couldn’t see why. They all _knew_ how he felt about killing. He hadn’t changed his mind.

“I won’t kill him,” Aang told them all, folding his arms across his chest. He lifted his chin defiantly and stared his friends down. It didn’t have the effect he had hoped for. Toph stepped forward, and when she was in front of him, she mimicked his stance in the most infuriatingly condescending way It was all Aang could do not to stomp his foot and turn away in disgust. 

“What’s your plan, Aang?” Toph demanded. “You’ve had since the Day of the Black Sun to come up with a different way to end the war. How are you going to end the war without killing the Fire Lord?” Aang faltered, drawing his arms tighter around himself. 

“I...I don’t know,” he admitted.

“Aang, we need _something_!” Katara insisted. “If we don’t end this war, a lot more people are going to die!”

“You don’t understand!” Aang’s tone turned pleading and he held his open palms up to Katara. “The monks taught me to respect _all_ life, and even Ozai-"

"Here he goes with the monks again," Sokka grumbled. "Just keep ignoring the dead Fire Nation soldiers at the Air Temple, then."

"I know what we saw there!" Aang snapped. "But I know they wouldn't want me to just ...kill Ozai. I'm not comfortable-"

"This is not about _your_ comfort!" Katara’s voice had suddenly raised to a shout. "Aang, you are the _Avatar_. Your concern should be protecting the world from a man who won't stop until he's burned it all to ash. You're worried about being _comfortable_ right now?" Aang reeled back from her, his arms raised defensively.

"I- I thought you understood." His voice hitched as he pleaded with Katara. Her shoulders sagged and she looked away.

"I tried, Aang," she said, shaking her head. "I tried to understand, but you need to understand, too. We're at _war,_ Aang. You've been all over the world. You've seen what this war has done. How many people are suffering. All the people who’ve died! Ozai can't be allowed to live. And you're the one who has to defeat him, Aang. it’s not enough that you don’t want to kill him. You haven’t come up with any other options. Unless you have another plan, you _have_ to be prepared to kill him."

Aang’s heart climbed into his throat as he looked at his friends. He found no support in their grim set faces. Almost against his will, Aang took a step back, shaking his head. 

“I...I can’t,” he said. “I can’t kill Ozai.” 

“Even if by not killing him, you’ll be killing thousands of other people?” Sokka demanded. Aang could see the sword trembling his friend’s hand. He could feel Sokka glaring at him, but Aang couldn’t lift his gaze any higher. He shook his head and took another step backward. Then another. 

“I can’t kill him,” Aang said again. “I can’t face the Fire Lord if it means losing going against my beliefs. I’m the last Air Nomad. That _has_ to mean something, too.”

“And the survival of the _world_ has to mean something!” Katara grabbed Aang’s shoulders and made him face her. “Don’t you get it, Aang? If we don’t stop Ozai, then what happened to the Air Nomads is going to happen to the Water Tribes, and to Omashu and Ba Sing Se. One life can’t be worth all of theirs!” 

Aang was still shaking his head. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t kill Ozai. He couldn’t make his friends understand why he couldn’t kill Ozai. He couldn’t offer a better solution. He couldn’t breathe. 

“I’m...I’m sorry,” he managed to whisper. “I can’t do this.” With that, Aang and ran. Behind him Katara called after him. 

“Let him go,” Aang heard Zuko say as he snapped his glider open. “He needs to work this out on his own.” 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Aang still hadn’t returned by that evening, but Katara felt like she was the only one concerned. Sokka and Toph were still angry. Suki didn’t know Aang well enough to be concerned about his taking off. And Zuko...well… Katara found Zuko far too understanding of Aang’s turmoil. He had insisted on letting Aang have space to cool off and find his own path. 

“How do you know leaving him alone will work?” Katara asked him. Zuko watched from his perch on the rail as Katara paced the porch in front of him. 

“Sometimes you have to let people figure things out on their own.” Zuko said simply. “Eventually, Aang will have to face what he has to do.” Katara stopped her pacing and faced Zuko with a bemused smile on her face. 

“When did you get so positive?” she asked. Zuko shrugged, faking nonchalance as his cheeks flushed a light pink. 

“Well, I figured if I could somehow get _you_ to like me, anything’s possible,” he told her. “Besides, he left Appa. How far could he get?”

“Dork,” Katara huffed, though Zuko could see she was smiling slightly. Still, her worry for Aang wouldn’t let her sit still for long. She began pacing again, casting worried glances at the starry night sky. 

“Katara, you have to stop worrying,” Zuko sighed and slid off of his seat and into his girlfriend’s path. Katara scowled up at him before she leaned forward and rested her head against his chest. 

“The last time he ran off because he freaked out, he was gone for a hundred years,” Katara reminded Zuko. 

“That won’t happen this time,” he promised, wrapping his arms around Katara. “He’ll be back.” Katara pulled away slightly and looked up at Zuko.

“And if he doesn’t?” 

Zuko froze. He didn’t know how to answer that. Aang would be back. Of course he would. Still, Katara’s question lingered in the air between them. Zuko pressed a kiss on her nose. 

“It’s late,” he said. “You should get some rest. I’ll keep an eye out for Aang, and I’ll tell you when he gets back.” Katara started to protest, but Zuko insisted. 

“You need to rest, too,” Katara said. “And we have to finish loading Appa.” Zuko just shrugged. 

“It’s not that much. Go rest. I’ll take care of packing.” Zuko gently nudged Katara towards the door. It was nice, Katara thought, to have someone else be the responsible one in the group. She turned back to him one more time and gave him a quick peck. 

“Let me know as _soon_ as he’s back,” she said.

Zuko watched Katara disappear into the darkened house. When she was out of sight, he let his shoulders droop. Then he scanned the sky anxiously. 

“Where _are_ you, Avatar?” he muttered to himself. 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Zuko woke to a hand shaking his shoulder. Beneath him, he could feel a rumble roll through Appa beneath him. He realized with a start that he had fallen asleep on the bison. His eyes flew open and he leapt to his feet with a gasp. 

“Woah!” Katara just barely avoided a collision with his head. “It’s just me.” 

“Katara?” Zuko blinked at her blearily. “What time is it?” 

“Just after sunrise,” she told him, frowning slightly. “You’re usually up by now. Are you okay?” Zuko sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 

“I just sat down for a moment,” he told her. “I guess I was more tired than I thought. Did Aang get back?” Katara’s face fell, and Zuko knew what she was going to say before she replied, 

“I was hoping he’d be out here with you.” Katara wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. “What are we going to do, Zuko? The comet will be here in a week. We don’t have time to find him.”

Zuko wasn’t used to this. No one had ever relied on him like this before. He brought his hand up to the back of his neck and thought for a moment. They needed to find Aang. They needed to make a plan and get to Caldera to stop his father. And they need to do it all in just a few days. 

“Are the others up?” Zuko asked Katara. 

“Yeah.” Katara gestured towards the house. “Sokka is making breakfast, and Suki and Toph are looking for anything we might need.”

“Good,” Zuko nodded once. “I have an idea, but we need to leave fast.” 

True to his word, Zuko had every one rounded up and on Appa within an hour. Sokka clambored to the front of the saddle behind Zuko. 

“Hey, where are we going?” he asked. Zuko glanced behind him. 

“We need to find Aang fast,” he said. “And there’s only one person I know who can help us.”

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Aang had gone farther than he intended. By the time he landed on one of the small rocky islands of the archipelago, Ember Island was lost among the other tiny dots on the ocean. The sun would be setting soon, Aang realized. It would make navigating back to the beach house more difficult. But he had been flying for hours, and his arms and legs were tired. Aang snapped his glider shut and sat on one of the boulders lying on the rocky beach. Momo poked his head out from beneath Aang’s collar, startling the boy. He had almost forgotten his furry companion. 

“Everything’s such a mess, Momo,” Aang sighed, reaching up to scratch behind Momo’s ears. “I know I can’t run from this, but I can’t kill Ozai either. How would Monk Gyatso have handled this?” Momo climbed to the top of Aang’s head and leaned down. He chittered at Aang cheerfully before he leaped down and began searching the gravel and brush for something to eat. Aang sighed as he watched him. 

The sky was darkening quickly. Aang would have to head back soon if he wanted to get home before his friends started to worry. 

He snorted at the thought. Between all the coupling going on and their clear anger that he wouldn’t kill Ozai, he doubted anyone had even noticed he was gone. Still, he did have to go back. Maybe he would be struck by inspiration on his way home and figure out how to beat Ozai without killing him. Maybe…

Aang’s mouth stretched into a wide, jaw cracking yawn. He would head back to his friends soon, but first he needed a quick rest. He settled down on the still sun warm boulder and lay his glider down beside him and watched the clouds, stained with the sunset, pass overhead. Momo joined him a few moments later, curling up on Aang’s stomach. A quick nap, Aang told himself. Just a short nap and he’d head back to Ember Island before anyone had time to miss him.

Aang gazed around in confusion. He had fallen asleep on a barren, rock island with an expanse of sky above him. He should have woken to a sky full of stars and the breeze off the ocean. The salty scent in the air told him he was still near the ocean, but instead of the rocky terrain he had fallen asleep on, he found himself standing at the edge of a wooded copse. Those trees hadn’t been on the island when he went to sleep, he was sure. There was an air of unreality around him that made Aang think he was dreaming. 

“H-hello?” Aang called out into the dark. Rustling just above his head made Aang gasp in fright. He looked up just in time to see a furry white blur fall on his face. The mass scrambled over him and settled on his shoulders. To his relief, Aang turned to find Momo staring into his eyes. 

“Momo!” he chided. “You scared the tarts out of me!” Momo chittered excitedly in reply and ran his paws over Aang’s head as if looking for bugs on his bare scalp. But Momo’s sudden and heavy arrival proved that Aang wasn’t dreaming after all. 

“Where are we?” he half whispered. He looked around for his glider, but it was nowhere in sight. So, he wondered, how had he gotten here? 

Eventually, Aang decided that he needed to get moving. Maybe he had been kidnapped...and left unguarded and unbound, standing at the edge of some woods. Maybe whoever had brought him here had also left a way for him to leave. He began to turn towards where he thought the beach might be, when something caught his eye in the trees. 

There was a clearing that Aang hadn’t noticed before just beyond the trees. It glowed strangely, as if it were lit by moonlight, but Aang knew that the next full moon wasn’t for another week or so. And he felt an odd sensation when he saw it, as if something were pulling him towards it. He had felt that pull before. He was in the presence of spiritual activity. From his shoulder, Momo let out several nervous chirps. 

“Don’t worry, Momo,” Aang said, trying to keep the quiver from his voice. “I’m the Avatar. I’m sure nothing here will hurt us.” Momo made a noise that might have been skepticism...or maybe he found something to snack on among Aang’s clothes. 

Aang took a deep breath and started forward. There was a short, well-worn path leading to the clearing, and he wondered how he had missed it before. Aang shot a quick glance behind him at the end of it. Somehow he wasn’t that surprised to see that the trees had closed in behind him. The path he had just walked was now a wild tangle of thorny weeds and low branches. He swallowed hard and turned back to the clearing. 

Before him was a perfectly made circle of smooth stone slabs. Two of the slabs were slightly raised and covered in moss. They had the unnerving appearance of stools. 

“I think that’s my seat,” Aang told Momo. The lemur looked from Aang to the clearing, and then, with a look of understanding that didn’t belong on his furry face, Momo leaped from Aang’s back and into the tree tops. Aang wasn’t worried. He felt instinctively that Momo would be safe while Aang did...whatever he was brought here to do. Cautiously, he walked to the center of the circle and sat crossed-legged on one of the stools. Across from him, the air above the other stool began to ripple and swirl until they revealed a large, dark man in Water Tribe furs. He looked down at Aang sternly, but not unkindly. 

“Avatar Aang,” he greeted the young boy with a shallow bow. “I am Avatar Kuruk.” 

.*.*.*.*.*.

“Are you sure we’ll find her here?” Katara asked, looking at the dingy tavern front dubiously. Zuko nodded.

“As sure as I can be.” He led the way inside and almost immediately regretted it. They had barely crossed the threshold before a barstool sailed past their heads and splintered against the doorframe beside them.

“Woah!” Sokka gasped. He lowered his arms and looked around the bar. There seemed to be several small brawls going on at once. No one had noticed the group of teens enter, and Sokka hoped it would stay that way. Suki grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him out of the way of a flying mug. 

“This place is awesome!” Toph laughed. She stomped her foot and a few feet away one man stumbled into the man sitting next to him, knocking him to the ground. The second man staggered drunkenly to his feet and swung at the first, and another brawl began, to Toph’s delight.

“Who exactly is it we’re looking for again?” Suki asked. 

“A bounty hunter lady with a gigantic mole,” Sokka told her.

“There she is!” Zuko shouted above the noise. He pointed to the end of the bar where a woman was quietly sipping from a cup. Reaching back for Katara’s hand, Zuko rushed forward. Around them, the drunken brawls continued, but a few of the bar patrons had taken notice of the teens. Specifically they had taken notice of Suki and Katara. 

“Hey, why don’t you ladies ditch those flimsy boys and have a drink with some real men?” crowed a balding man with a bulging stomach. He grinned wide to reveal several missing teeth. 

“Gross,” Katara muttered. Zuko shot the man a burning look and hurried the rest of the way to Jun. She turned to him with a smirk, as if she had been expecting him. 

“Well, if it isn’t Prince Pouty,” she said. Her eyes dropped to Zuko and Katara’s intertwined hands and her smirk widened. “I see you made up with your girlfriend. Congratulations.”

“We _weren’t_ ….!” Zuko his forehead and groaned. “Nevermind. We need your help tracking someone.” 

“That so?” Jun quirked an eyebrow at him. “Who is it this time?”

“The Avatar,” Katara said. She laid Aang’s headband on the bar in front of her. Jun set her drink down and considered the scrap of cloth for a moment.

“Nah,” she said. “I’ll pass.” 

“Pass?” Katara repeated in confusion. “Look, we can pay you. We have more than enough-”

“It doesn’t sound like fun to me,”Jun told her. She grabbed her cup and took another sip. Zuko slammed his fist down on the bar beside him. 

“Does the end of the world sound like _fun_ to you?” 

“Well, no,” Jun chuckled. “But watching you get your panties in a bunch does. Beat it, kiddos. I’m busy.”

“Jun, please!” Zuko begged. “You don’t understand-” Zuko leaned forward to plead their case, when they were interrupted by yet another drunken bar patron. He stumbled over and threw his arms across Katara and Suki’s shoulders. There was a powerful stench of booze paired with stale sweat rolling off of him, and it was a toss up of whether he was leaning on them in an attempt to flirt, or if he just couldn’t stand on his own anymore.

“He~ey, ladies!” he slurred. “How about you two join me and my buddies for some fun?” 

“Get off of them!” Sokka snapped, reaching for his sword. 

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Jun warned him. 

“Hey, loser,” Toph snarled at the man. “I’d leave us alone if I were you.” The man looked at Toph in a mix of annoyance and confusion. 

“Ain’t it a school night kid? Stay out of grown folks’ business.” He turned back to Suki and Katara, who had shrugged him off, scowling at him. “C’mon, cuties. We can show you a better time than-” 

The man was cut off abruptly by a fist in his sternum. He doubled over in pain and Suki stood over him, her hand still balled defensively. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and forced him to look up at her.

“We _aren’t_ interested,” she hiss. 

“She’s letting you off lightly,” Sokka told the man, smirking as he draped an arm across his girlfriend’s shoulders. “I’d leave if I were you.”

“You…”the man wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “You...little s-” Whatever insult the man was going to hurl at Suki was suddenly lost in panicked grunts that seemed to be stuck in the man’s throat. He clawed at his mouth desperately, but it seemed something had stolen his ability to speak. The group stared at him in confusion for a moment, but then they turned to Katara. She shrugged. 

“I just froze his tongue to the roof of his mouth,” she explained. “He’ll be fine in a few minutes.” 

“Nice!” Toph laughed. She bent the stone floor around the flailing man’s feet and sent him careening back to the table where his buddies sat. They stared at him through their alcoholic gaze, uncomprehending as he tried to beg for help. Back at the bar Jun let out a peal of laughter. 

“You know what?” she said. “You kids are alright after all. I think I will help you. But I want payment upfront.” Jun quickly drained the rest of her drink and left a few coins on the bar to pay her tab. Then she stood and led the group to the tavern’s back exit. Sokka and Suki brought up the rear, and Suki tugged at Sokka’s sleeve.

“You said she had a gigantic mole,” she whispered as they walked out into the alley . “Her skin is _flawless!”_

“I wasn’t talking about that kind of mole,” Sokka told her. “You’ll see.” 

The door slammed shut behind them, muffling the roar of the bar significantly. Jun lifted her fingers to her lips and let out a piercing whistle. The alleyway was suddenly filled with the scraping sounds of claws on stone and the rumble of something heavy running towards them. A moment later, Jun’s shirshu skidded to a halt in front of the group. 

“First thing’s first,” Jun told them, holding her hand out. “I said payment upfront.” Zuko hesitated only a moment before passing her a small purse filled with gold from the beach house. Jun weighed the bag in her hand, shaking it slightly before nodding. 

“That’ll cover it,” she said. “Nyla, scent.” Then she turned to her mole and held Aang’s headband under her nose. Nyla snorted over the scrap of material once. Twice. Then she turned around in a circle and flopped down on the ground. 

“What’s it doing?” Zuko asked. This wasn’t like the first time he had seen the shirshu in action. That time she had caught Katara’s scent and was anxious to go. Now, she seemed ready to nap.

“Your friend is gone,” Jun said with a shrug. 

“Gone?” Katara gasped. “You don’t mean he’s...he’s not…”

“He isn’t anywhere,” Jun told her. “Nyla can track anyone alive or dead anywhere in the world. If she isn’t picking up his scent, he isn’t in the world anymore.” 

“Maybe he’s in the spirit world,” Sokka suggested half-hopefully. 

“Now what?” Toph voiced the question no one else wanted to ask out loud. 

Jun looked around the deflated teens and sighed. She hadn’t been paid enough to babysit. 

“Well, since you already paid me, maybe there’s someone else Nyla and I can find for you,” she said. 

“Maybe Dad?” Sokka suggested. 

“We don’t have anything of Dad’s to track him with,” Katara reminded him. Zuko frowned in thought. 

‘We can find Uncle,” he said after a moment. He shrugged his rucksack from his shoulders and rummaged through it until he came up with an old, smelly slipper.

“What _is_ that?” Katara recoiled at the scent. 

“It’s...it’s the only thing of my uncle’s I could find after we split up,” Zuko explained sheepishly. He handed it over to Jun, who held it with two fingers for Nyla to smell. The giant beast leapt to her feet and pointed west. 

“Got him!” Jun declared. She passed the slipper back to Zuko and swung into the saddle on Nyla’s back. “Who’s riding with me?”

“You go,” Sokka told Zuko. “We’ll follow you on Appa.” Zuko nodded and clamored on to the saddle behind Jun. The bounty hunter spurred Nyla into a run, and the rest of the group hurried back to where Appa was waiting.

“Did you know he was hanging on to that thing?” Suki asked. Her nose scrunched distastefully. Katara shook her head.

“Not a clue,” she told Suki. “I’m choosing to find it endearing.”

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Aang was on the verge of tears. No one understood him. He had spoken to five Avatars, and all of them told him they thought killing Ozai was for the greater good. Even Avatar Yang Chen had told him he needed to kill the Fire Lord. It hadn’t made a difference. Aang couldn’t kill Ozai.

But if he didn’t kill Ozai, then Ozai would kill thousands more people, and their blood would be on _Aang’s_ hands. That point had been driven home by everyone he had spoken to. Aang was trapped. No matter what he did, someone would die. 

Sighing, Aang unfolded his legs from beneath him and climbed to his feet. Momo glided down to the ground and scrambled up to Aang’s shoulder. 

“I don’t know what to do, Momo,” Aang lamented. “I...I don’t know if I can go back and face him. But if I don’t face him… If only I could stop the comet somehow.” 

Momo had no wisdom to share. He chittered at Aang and nuzzled the boy’s head. Then he jumped off of Aang’s shoulder and explored the once more empty clearing.

“Thanks, boy,” Aang sighed. He sat back down on his abandoned stool to think. Soon, he would have to figure out how to leave the island. He still wasn’t sure where exactly he was, and he needed to find his friends. Though spirits knew what he would do once he found them. Aang hung his head in defeat. 

Beneath his feet, Aang could feel the ground rumbling. He must be on a volcanic island, he thought. Maybe it would erupt and he wouldn’t have to make any decisions ever again. Another quake shook the ground again, stronger this time. Aang leapt to his feet and hurried out of the clearing.

“Momo, time to go!” he called into the trees behind him. He emerged from the woods where he had woken up some hours ago. The sun was just beginning to rise, and in the first rays of day, he spotted his glider leaning up against a tree. That hadn’t been there earlier, he was fairly certain. There didn’t seem to be a beach of any sort on this part of the island. Just a sheer cliff dropping into the ocean below. There weren’t any distant islands that Aang could see. He didn’t understand how he had gotten to this island in the first place, but he assumed it had something to do with spirits. 

“You could have at least given me a boat!” Aang yelled to anyone who was listening. “A map? I don’t even know where I am!” The ground rumbled again, the strongest yet. The ground shook hard enough to nearly knock Aang off of his feet. The rumbling grew louder until it filled the air. It almost sounded like…

“ _I….can….help._ ” Aang gasped and looked around wildly. Momo ran out of the woods and hid inside of Aang’s shirt. He wrapped his free arm around the trembling lemur comfortingly. He had _definitely_ heard someone speak, but he couldn’t see anyone. 

_“I….can….help.”_ The low, rumbling voice filled the air. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Aang realized that the island must be alive with spiritual energy, but now he was beginning to wonder if the island _itself_ was actually alive. Confirmation came dramatically a moment later. 

At the bottom of the cliff, the water began churning violently. Aang stared down at it, mouth agape. Something was rising from the ocean. He had just enough time to see the shadow of whatever it was deepening before he threw himself backward. Beneath his shirt, Momo trembled silently in terror, but Aang’s attention was fixated on a stone structure emerging from below. The water poured off the rocky thing in a roar. 

He should run, Aang thought. He would probably be safe in the center of the island. But his body wouldn’t respond to his orders. The water stopped flowing off of the thing that had appeared next to the main mass of the island. It wasn’t moving anymore, and Aang felt it was safe enough to examine. He toed his way closer to the edge of the cliff and stared at the form. It was a strange shade of golden brown. He had seen stones that shade outside of a desert. The texture was wrong, too. It almost looked like grass, but Aang thought it was still strange looking, even for grass. With a start he realized that what he had taken for plants looked more like fur. The shape of the furry structure began to resolve itself in Aang’s mind, and he thought he could make out the shape of a paw. Slowly, it moved closer towards Aang, but it didn’t seem to be a threatening motion. 

“ _Get...on…”_ the voice bade him. Aang obliged. He moved hesitantly, but he figured if the island were alive, it would be best to obey. He patted Momo’s trembling form comfortingly, trying to reassure his friend that they would be fine, though he wasn’t completely sure himself. He clutched his glider in a vice like grip. If the paw tried to drag them underwater, Aang decided he would fly himself and Momo to safety somehow.

Once he was on the paw, it moved towards the front end of the island. Aang had to kneel down and hold onto the fur to keep from tumbling backward, but aside from that, there was nothing overtly alarming about the motion. The paw dropped him off on a flat rock, the only other bit of earth as far as Aang could see. The rock stood in front of a larger stone structure. It was strangely symmetrical, and had weird long branches jutting out of either side. It wasn’t until the eyes opened that Aang realized he was looking at the face of the island...or whatever it was. He should have been frightened, but the large being gave off a peaceful aura that settled Aang’s nerves. Even Momo felt safe enough to peek out from beneath Aang’s collar. 

“ _Young... Avatar_ ,” the face of the island greeted him. “ _It is an... unexpected pleasure... to meet you.”_ The great creature spoke as if it wasn’t used to doing it. Aang figured something that big must have a heavy tongue, though. 

“I...It’s nice to meet you, too?” Aang said with an uncertain shrug. “I guess. Who _are_ you?’ Aang couldn’t be sure, but he thought the thing smiled at him. 

“ _I am...the last of the lion turtles,”_ it said. It lifted its paw and for the first time, Aang noticed a very impressive set of claws. One of which was getting alarmingly close. When the tip of it pressed gently against his chest, Aang had to fight the instinct to jump out of the way, but a moment later, that feeling was swallowed up in a pleasant warmth permeating his body.

The lion turtle had somehow created a spiritual link with Aang through his touch. He showed Aang images from his impossibly long life. The lion turtle was there when the world was young, and the spirit and the physical worlds were one. It was there when the first benders were born. It was there when the first seeds of mistrust and hate were sown, and people began enforcing imaginary borders. It was there when the first Avatar fought to restore a fractured harmony. 

Aang’s heart broke when he saw what the world had once been. Even in his time, before the war, he had never experienced the unity the lion turtle had shown him. It was impossibly beautiful. If he lived a thousand years, Aang didn’t think he’d be able to restore the world to that harmony.

“ _The past..can be useful to teach,”_ the lion turtle said. “ _But...we must not...forget to move forward.”_

“I don’t know _how_ to move forward,” Aang confessed. He ducked his head to hide the tears suddenly filling his eyes. “I...what my friends...what _everyone_ wants me to do...I can’t...can’t kill…”

“ _There is…”_ the lion turtle spoke ponderously slowly, _“no shame...in choosing compassion….over vengeance…”_ Aang listed his head at that, heedless of his tearstained face. That was the first bit of support he had gotten since he was told that he was expected to kill Ozai. His heart sped up, and a thin sliver of hope pierced the young boy. But then he shook his head. 

“If I don’t go through with it,” he said, “even more people will die. And that will be my fault.”

“ _There is...another way,”_ the lion turtle told Aang. “ _I will…show you..”_ Again the claw was raised, but this time, Aang was prepared for it. When it touched his chest, he saw the solution the lion turtle was offering. It was...perfect! It was all Aang could do not to crow with joy. 

“Wow…” he exhaled. “I don’t _have_ to kill him?” The lion turtle’s head lowered slightly in an approximation of a nod. 

“ _You may…”_ it said, “ _show what mercy...you please._ _I will...take you...to land. And tell you...where to find...your friends.”_

Aang was thrilled. Beyond thrilled. He felt true hope for the first time in such a long time. Anything felt possible. Even Katara-

He shook his head. This was not the time. He could entertain _those_ thoughts later. 

The lion turtle held its paw out to Aang expectantly, and Aang realized that he would need to ride on its back. He scurried on, Momo clinging to his back, and let the spirit deposit him back on its wooded back. With no place else in particular to go, Aang wandered back to the clearing. He looked around and realized happily that some of the trees were bearing fruit. The last meal he had eaten was lunch the previous day. He was _famished_. 

Once he had gotten some fruit, he settled back onto the stool. The lion turtle was moving at a noticeable speed. Aang could almost feel the island sized beast bobbing on the waves. It was an odd sensation. Odd enough that Aang almost didn’t notice when Roku reappeared on the other stool. 

“Roku!” Aang gasped. His stomach lurched at the unexpected arrival. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here because you need me,”the older Avatar replied. Aang reeled back in surprise. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I don’t need you. I mean… not that I’m not glad to see you, or anything.”

“You are choosing a path that might not end where you want it,” Roku explained. He sat straight and dignified, as if he were in the Fire Lord’s dining room and not on a muggy living island.

“The path goes _exactly_ where I want it!” Aang declared, suddenly irritated. “I did what _you_ couldn’t! What _none_ of you could do! I can restore balance and not kill Ozai!” Roku eyed Aang solemnly, and then nodded slowly. 

“That is true,” he agreed. “But you must remember that gift from the spirits _always_ comes at a cost.” Aang faltered. His heart leapt into his throat and he swallowed hard to put it back in its place. 

  
“What’s the price for this?” he asked. 

“I cannot say,” Roku sighed. “But there will be a cost, just as there would be a cost if you killed Ozai.” Aang stared up at Roku, his spiritual mentor, quaking slightly. Then he took a breath and bowed his head. 

“It will be worth it,” Aang said. “If I’m going to restore balance and peace to the world, I don’t want to do it with _more_ violence.” Roku sighed again, but Aang didn’t sense any disappointment in it. 

“Then may the spirits guard the path you chose.” A cool breeze brushed past Aang, and when he lifted his head, Roku was gone. He sagged in relief, shutting his eyes. He had chosen a different path than his predecessors and had received their blessing. 

“Avatar Aang.” Aang’s eyes flew open and he found himself looking into the startling face of Avatar Kyoshi. It took every bit of self control for Aang not to start.

“Avatar Kyoshi,” he bowed as much to show respect as to hide his alarm. “You’re back.”

“I am here to give you one last word of advice,” she told him. Aang forced himself to meet her gaze. The paint around her eyes gave her an unnervingly feral look, and Aang understood why her warriors had adopted the face paint. 

“I won’t kill Ozai,” he said defensively. “I don’t _have_ to anymore, and Roku said it’s fine.” Aang wasn’t sure, but Kyoshi looked almost amused at his reaction. 

“That wasn’t what I wanted to say to you.” Her face grew stern and more feral. “You will not win without the Avatar State. You must master that before you face him, or even with the lion turtle’s gift, you will fail.”  
  
“But how do I-”

“You know what you must do,” Kyoshi cut him off impatiently. “You must learn to free yourself of attachments. You must let her go.” Aang stared at Kyoshi, feeling many things at once. He couldn’t articulate any of them. Before he found his voice again, Kyoshi disappeared, leaving Aang staring at the trees feeling numb and hollow. 

.*.*.*.*.*.

It took a day and a half for Jun to track Iroh. From the sky, Sokka and the others spotted a sizable camp in the middle of the woods. 

“I’m pretty sure it’s the White Lotus guys,” Sokka told Zuko and Jun when they met up a few miles away from the camp. “Well, them and whoever they managed to recruit.”

“We should probably check it out before we just barge into the camp,” Zuko said. “Uncle is there, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be trouble.”  
  
“That’s the spirit, Mr. Brightside,” Jun scoffed. Still, she agreed to take Zuko and Toph on a scouting trip while the others went to look for someplace to hide Appa. The trip was fairly quick. Jun the scouting trio close enough for Toph to ascertain how large the camp was. She even managed to recognize a few people. 

‘I see those Swamp Bender guys,” she said. “They don’t seem to be prisoners. We’re good.” Jun looked down at the small girl curiously.

“Are you sure you’re blind?” she asked. 

“Since birth,” Toph replied with a smirk. “But only in my eyes.”

“So you got _all_ of that with earthbending?” 

“I sure did.” Toph had given Jun the short version of how she was able to see with her earth bending, but this was the first time the bounty hunter was seeing it in action. She stared at the girl consideringly. 

“That’s impressive,” she said at last. Toph’s smirk widened as she climbed back onto Nyla’s saddle.

“I know.”

Sunset was fast approaching when they returned to their friends. Once they had the all clear, it was decided that they would leave right away. If Iroh and the others were preparing to move on the capital, they wanted to make sure they would be there, too. 

“Well, looks like my work here is done,” Jun announced, swinging herself back into Nyla’s saddle. “I’m off.” 

“Why don’t you stay and help?” Suki suggested. “We could use all the help we can get.”

“I don’t think so, kid.” Jun quirked her brow and smirked at the teens. “But best of luck fighting the good fight. Look me up if you survive. I might be looking for an apprentice or two.” She pressed her heels into Nyla’s sides and they disappeared into the growing twilight. 

The large camp reminded Zuko jarringly of the camp he had arrived in with the Southern Water Tribe. With a pang, he thought of that first day, when Bato had assured him that he and the other Water Tribe warriors would stand up for him if anyone hassled him. The memory stopped him in his steps for a moment. Beside him, Katara looked up at him with that concerned wrinkle over her nose. 

“I’m fine,” he told her. She slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.

They were spotted immediately as they approached the camp. The soldiers on guard fell into defensive positions before any of the new arrivals could say anything. None of them seemed to recognize Iroh’s nephew, or the Avatar’s masters, but a sharp gasp went up from just beyond the line of guards.

_“Zuko?”_ Ty Lee burst out in front of them and laughed delightedly. “I don’t know you guys were coming! General Iroh and the Chief are going to be so glad to see you!” 

“Hey..Ty Lee,” Zuko greeted her. He still wasn’t sure how to act around his sister’s old friend, but she didn’t seem to notice his discomfort. Her eyes had zeroed in on Katara and Zuko’s intertwined hands. She jumped up and down clapping her hands.

“Are you guys dating now?” she squealed in delight. “Oh! You two are just adorable together. Mai had a crush on you for the longest time, you know, but I really think you and Katara are a better fit. How did you two get together?”

“We don’t really-” Zuko started to say. 

“Say no more!” Ty Lee said. “I get it. You had a long trip, and I’m sure that you want to see the General and the Chief. Come on, I’ll take you!”

The bewildered soldiers finally realized who the newcomers were. They stood aside and allowed Ty Lee to guide them into the camp. Along the way, the group recognized and were recognized by more people. A few lifted their hands and called out to them in greeting, but no one came up to them. Ty Lee was clearly on a mission, and she had been among them long enough to know not to interrupt her. She brought them to a large tent in the center of the camp. 

“They were having a strategy meeting,” Ty Lee explained as she lifted the tent’s flap. “They should be done now. Chief? We have visitors!”

“ _Visitors_?” Hakoda’s alarmed voice rang out. He emerged a moment later looking ready to order an attack. It took a moment for him to process the new faces before him, but when he landed on Katara and Sokka’s faces, he froze. 

“Hey, Dad!” Sokka grinned at him, proud to have surprised him.

“Kids!” Hakoda’s voice hitched in his throat. He held his arms out to embrace his children. He was shocked to see that in just shy of three weeks, his son had shot up dramatically. They were nearly eye to eye. Katara had changed, too. She had always been the more mature of his children, but she bore her responsibilities with an air of anxiety. Now, though, there was a new resolve about her, and she seemed more assured. A general prepared for battle. Hakoda blinked rapidly to halt the sudden tears springing into his eyes, and squeezed his children tightly. Then he turned to give Zuko a quick embrace before bowing respectfully to Toph and Suki. 

“I’ll see about your sleeping arrangements,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll want food and rest.”

“That’d be great,” Suki sighed in relief. 

“When will Aang be joining us?” Hakoda asked. Ty Lee looked around the group in surprise. She hadn’t noticed that Aang wasn’t with them. The awkward silence following his question gave Hakoda a sudden sense of foreboding.

“He...he’s not with us,” Katara said. Hakoda’s stomach sank with dread. “We don’t know where he is.” 

.*.*.*.*.*.

Hakoda wanted the entire story, but he saw that his kids and their friends were exhausted. He sent someone to make up sleeping spaces for them and settled them down to eat. Between bites, they managed to tell him the short version of the story. Aang got upset about the idea of killing Ozai, and he left his friends about three or four days earlier. No one knew where he had gone. It was bad news for the resistance army, but Hakoda squared his shoulders. 

“We will have to work with what we have,” he said. “You kids finish your meal, and we’ll talk more later. I have to go tell the White Lotus what’s happening.” Hakoda started to rise, but Zuko cleared his voice. Hakoda had learned well enough that sound meant that Zuko had something he wanted to say. 

  
“My...does my uncle know we’re here?” he asked. Hakoda’s face softened into something that was almost, but not quite a smile. 

“He knows,” he replied. “He wanted to come see you immediately, but he was tied up with King Bumi and Master Pakku.” Zuko nodded silently. Hakoda wasn’t sure if the young man was relieved or disappointed, but he didn’t have time to mull it over. He walked away from the mess area and headed towards the tent where the Grand Lotuses were gathered. He hadn’t gotten far when he heard the sound of someone running up behind him. Hakoda spun on his heels, his guard up. Katara skidded to a stop in front of him.

“Dad...” she said, her voice quavering oddly. Gone was that self-assured resolve he had glimpsed earlier. Katara’s eyes were teary now, and despite the gravity of the news he was heading to bear, Hakoda forgot his mission in alarm for his daughter. 

“Honey, what’s-” Katara cut him off, launching herself into his arms. Hakoda held her tight and smoothed back her hair. She was still wearing it loose, he noted passively. 

“I’m sorry,” she cried into his shoulder. “I’m sorry I was so awful to you. I know you did your best, and it wasn’t your fault you had to leave us.”

“Oh,” Hakoda’s heart clenched painfully as he remembered the last time he had seen his daughter. “Katara, it’s alright.” Katara pulled away and shook her head. Her entire body was trembling with emotion. 

“It’s _not_ !” she insisted. “I was angry at you for leaving. And I was angry that you weren’t there after Mom died, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I know why you left. I know it was hard on you, too, and I just threw it in your face. Daddy, I’m sorry.” Hakoda yanked Katara back into his embrace and let her cry.   
  


“I know, Katara,” he hushed her. “I’m sorry I had to leave you and your brother. I’m sorry you didn’t get to be kids for very long. But you have been so brave, and I’m so unbelievably proud of you. One argument doesn’t erase that, okay? I love you, sweetheart. I love you and your brother so much.” 

“I love you, too,” Katara sniffled. When Katara gathered herself, Hakoda wrapped his arm around her shoulders and continued his trek to the Lotus tent. He reflected that he should send Katara back to finish her meal, but it would be a relatively short walk. If her food was cold when she got back, Hakoda was sure Zuko would reheat it for her.

Speaking of which, the bad news about Aang had _not_ distracted Hakoda from noticing some interesting things about his daughter’s interactions with the banished Fire Nation prince. 

“So…” he began nonchalantly. Beneath his arm, he felt Katara stiffen. “You and Zuko, huh?” Katara didn’t say anything for a moment, but then she sighed and nodded. 

“Yeah,” she admitted. “It’s...it’s pretty new. We’ve been together a little less than a week now.” Hakod hummed thoughtfully. 

“I... suppose I understand what you see in him,” he said. “Zuko’s a good kid. A bit awkward and prone to inappropriate outburst at times.” Katara’s mouth twisted into a frown and she shot her father a suspicious side glance. “But, then again, so are you.”

  
“Dad!” Katara admonished elbowing Hakoda. It made him chuckle, but he was serious again a moment later.

“Have you two discussed..well, what happens after the war?” he asked. Katara looked away and shook her head.

“We _just_ figured out where we stand with each other,” Katara explained. “We haven’t really had time to talk about...anything else.” Hakoda heaved a heavy sigh.

“I like Zuko,” he told Katara. “Despite his age and everything he’s been through, he’s a kind, compassionate and intelligent young man. Honestly, he’s exactly the kind of man I would have hoped for you to find. But…” Katara glanced at Hakoda nervously, but she didn’t quite meet his eye. 

“But?” she prompted him shyly. Another fatherly sigh. Hakoda wasn’t sure if he should have even said anything at this point. After all, Katara and Zuko had only been dating a week, and though he would never say so out loud, Hakoda knew how uncertain the outcome of the war was. Maybe he should have just let the young couple find what happiness they could together. But he _had_ already brought it up.

“He’s in line for the throne of the Fire Nation, Katara. I think he’s the right choice for it, but it’s going to come with...certain expectations of him. Including marriage.”  
  


“We’ve been dating a _week,_ Dad!” Katara huffed. “We’re nowhere near talking about...about marriage!”

“That’s just my point, though.” With his free hand Hakoda pinched the bridge of his nose. “The Fire Nation isn’t like the Southern Tribe.” Katara snorted at that, but Hakoda went on as if he didn’t hear. “Succession is very important to them. Now, Zuko might be given a few years before people start expecting him to seriously consider marriage. He’s not quite of marriageable age by their standards. But, honey, if you’re dating him, they are going to be looking at you as a potential bride. They might not like you.”

“I don’t care,” Katara scoffed. “It’s none of their business what-”  
  


“But it _is_ , Katara.” Hakoda stopped walking and turned to face his daughter. “I’ll support you no matter what you choose. I trust your decisions. But if you date Zuko, your relationship _will_ be very much political. Not just because _he_ will be Fire Lord, but because you are _my_ daughter. The Southern Tribe isn’t as rigidly stratified as the Fire Nation, but _you_ are the closest thing to a princess we have.” That would have made Katara laugh if this entire conversation wasn’t so unfunny. Still she managed a weak derisive snort. 

“Why are we talking about this?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. “Dad, we _just_ started dating. I like Zuko a _lot_ , but I’m- _we’re_ not ready to talk about marriage right now. I’m only fifteen.” 

“Katara, you will be of age next year,” Hakoda reminded her gently. “I’m in no rush to marry you off, but that _does_ mean something. You don’t have to make any decisions just now, or even bring it up to Zuko if you aren’t ready. But it _is_ something you will have to consider.”

“ _If_ we win,” Katara muttered sardonically. Hakoda placed a hand on Katara’s shoulder and lifted her chin gently. 

“ _When_ we win,” he corrected her with a confidence he didn’t quite feel. He took a deep breath and dropped his hands to his sides. “Well, this is where I have to leave you.”

“Huh?” Katara blinked in surprise. Hakoda gestured to a tent a few yards behind him with his thumb. 

“That’s the Lotus tent. Go finish your dinner and get some rest. We’ll be up early tomorrow morning to catch you all up on the plans.” Katara nodded and started back towards where she left her friends. Then she stopped abruptly and spun around.

“Hey, Dad?” she called. Hakoda paused and waited. “Um...thanks.”  
  


“For what?” he asked. Katara shrugged shyly. 

“For...being cool,” she said hesitantly, “you know, about...me and Zuko.” Hakoda grinned at Katara. She had grown into a lovely young woman, but he could still see the traces of the adorable child he remembered. 

“Anytime.” Hakoda winked at Katara and then ducked into the tent.

By the time she got back to the mess area, Katara’s friends were done eating. The only one still there was Zuko, who was valiantly guarding her plate. Katara paused before he saw her and watched him for a moment. He was alone at the moment, but there was a slight smile on his face as he greeted one of the Southern Tribe warriors he remembered from the ship. Katara’s heart lurched at the thought that Zuko, who had spent so much of his childhood lonely and abused, had found friendship among her people. For a moment, she thought it was easy to imagine spending the rest of her life with him.

Katara shook her head sharply and went continued on to the bench.

“Hey,” she said, sliding onto the bench next to him. “You waited.”

“I didn’t want them to throw out your food,” Zuko told her. He pushed her plate in front of her. It was steaming slightly, and Katara realized he had kept it warm for her. “You were gone for a while.”

“I was talking to my dad.” Beside her, Zuko went ridgid.

“Did you...ah...does he know…”

“That we’re dating?” Katara smirked at him. “Yeah, he kind of figured it out.” Zuko paled and swallowed hard. 

“Is he mad?” he asked. Katara struggled not to laugh. For a brief moment she was tempted to tease him about her dad waking him in the middle of the night for a man to man chat, but she dismissed that idea immediately. 

“He’s not mad,” she assured her boyfriend. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “He said you’re just the sort of guy he hoped I’d end up with.” Zuko started at her, astonished.

“ _Really?_ ” he said. “He _said_ that?” Katara grinned and nodded her head. 

“You made a really good impression on him.” She kept the other part of what her father said to herself. It was bad enough that her father had planted the idea of marriage in her head. There was no reason to freak Zuko out, too. Still, she thought as she gazed up at him, their kids would be crazy adorable.

As Katara finished her meal, she noticed that Zuko seemed distracted. She attempted to make conversation a couple of times, but after Katara’s assurances regarding her father, Zuko seemed to lose interest in talking. All of his responses came in short, monosyllabic sentences. By the time she was done eating, Katara was genuinely worried. Zuko had always been communicative with her, even before they were friends. For him to have so little to say now was strange. 

“Are you okay?” she asked, turning to face him. Zuko started and stared at her with wide eyes. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean...you’re quiet,” Katara said. “Weirdly quiet.”

“I’m _always_ quiet,” Zuko shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 

“Not with me.” Katara leaned forward and put her hand on Zuko’s forearm. “Seriously, is something bothering you?” Zuko sighed and lowered his head. Katara sat patiently and let him gather his thoughts. 

“I haven’t seen Uncle yet,” he said quietly. He gaze was still turned down to the table. Katara leaned over and rested her chin on Zuko’s shoulder. 

“Are you avoiding him, or are you afraid he’s avoiding you?” she asked. Zuko shrugged his free shoulder. 

“A little of both, I guess,” he admitted. 

“Do you want to talk to him?” 

“I...I don’t know,” Zuko squeezed his eyes shut and leaned into Katara’s touch. “I’ve missed him so much! But, Katara, he lied to me. I don’t know how to move forward from that.” 

Katara chewed on her lip. She was used to giving advice and providing emotional support, but this felt different. She wasn’t sure why, though.

“I heard a story once about a brave, smart, handsome guy who did bad things while he was trying to do good,” Katara said after she had thought for a moment. Zuko finally turned to look at her, and Katara pulled away slightly to make it easier. 

“Anyone I know?” he asked sardonically. Katara smiled at him and winked. 

“Maybe,” she replied. “Stop interrupting and let me finish my story!” Zuko motioned for her to continue. “So this guy, right? He was so determined to help that he put his life on the line to save the lives of people he didn’t know personally.”

“I bet he didn’t know he was risking his life when he did it,” Zuko scoffed. Katara looked at Zuko sternly. 

“ _As I was saying!_ ” She cleared her throat. “This strong, handsome, honorable guy was told that he had to do something terrible in order to get the power to save more people. And he tried.” Zuko hung his head to hide his shamed flush. “He neve got very far though. You see, he had this old guy travelling with him. And this old guy cared for the younger one like a son. He was a wise old man, but he was human, and he made mistakes, like even the best parents do. One of his mistakes hurt the young guy, and the young guy had to decide if that mistake outweighed everything else the old man had done for him.”

“What did that young guy-”

“That smart, brave handsome young guy,” Katara corrected. 

“Um...right,” Zuko’s shoulders crept up to his ears. “What did he do?” 

“I don’t know.” Katara shrugged. “He hasn’t told me yet.” Zuko visibly deflated.

“Great,” he sighed. Katara leaned up and kissed his cheek.

  
“But, you know what? The guy had a girlfriend who cared about him. And friends who would stand by him no matter what. He knew they would support him no matter what he decided.” Zuko turned to Katara, his mouth hung open in wonder. 

“Really?” 

“Really.” Katara nodded. “Besides, like you’re the only one who has issues with a parent.” Zuko surprised Katara with a bark of laughter. 

“So that story was about me?” he joked. “I was beginning to wonder if I should be jealous of this guy.”   
  
“Maybe a little.” Katara laughed with Zuko. “So, what are you going to do, guy?” Zuko took a deep breath, steeling his resolve. 

“I need to speak to my uncle,” he said. Katara’s face split into a wide, proud grin. 

“I’ll walk with you,” she offered.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

The walk to Iroh’s tent was far too short for Zuko’s taste. Katara stood beside him, in front of the closed flaps. Her fingers were laced through his, now sweaty with anxiety. 

“You don’t _have_ to do this now,”she said quietly. Zuko shook his head and squared his shoulders resolutely.

“No, I need to do it now, or I might lose my nerve,” he said. Katara released his hand and took a step back. 

“I’ll wait for you,” she promised. Zuko turned sharply to her. It was late, and he knew she must have been as tired as anyone. 

“You don’t have to-”

“I’ll wait.” Katara’s tone invited no argument, and Zuko knew better than to try. With a relieved smile, he prepared himself once more and then entered the tent.

Iroh sat on his cot, his elbows resting on his thighs and his head bowed low. For a moment Zuko thought he was asleep. Then Iroh slowly lifted his head. 

“Uncle…” The word slipped out of Zuko’s mouth almost unintentionally. He wasn’t prepared for the emotions that hit him when he saw Iroh. 

“Prince Zuko,” Iroh’s face lit up and he smiled warmly. He rose to greet his nephew, his arms raising hesitantly. Zuko surprised them both by stepping into the embrace. They didn’t say anything for a long time. When they finally parted, the silence still hung between them, neither of them really knowing how to say what needed to be said. 

“I'm so happy to see you, my nephew,” Iroh spoke first. “I have heard of some of what you have been up to, and I am very proud.” 

“Uncle, I…” Zuko cleared his throat against the sudden lump. “I’ve missed you. But I’m still upset with you. I don’t understand why you lied to me. For the longest time you were the only person in the world I could trust.” Iroh bowed his head and clasped his hands together. 

“I’m so sorry, Zuko,” Iroh’s voice shook with emotion. “I was never certain if I was doing the right thing by you.”

“I get why you did it,” Zuko admitted. “Especially while we were on the ship. But why didn’t you tell me after the Northern Tribe? Or while we were in Ba Sing Se? And then on top of all of that, why didn’t you tell me that I would be Fire Lord if we won? I should have heard that from you, Uncle! Instead it was just dropped on me by people I don’t even know.”

“I did what I did in order to protect you,” Iroh said. “I now realize that I have been overly cautious. I should have trusted _you_ the way I needed you to trust _me_ . I made a mistake by not telling you that I still intended to let you take the throne. But, my nephew, you _are_ ready to be the Fire Lord. And I will be at your side for as long as you need me.” 

Zuko nodded. He wasn’t really agreeing with his uncle, just acknowledging that he heard. 

“Where do we go from here?” Zuko asked. Iroh sighed.

“I can’t take back what I’ve done,” he said. “But if you’ll forgive me, I can promise to be more open with you going forward.” Zuko regarded his uncle. This conversation didn’t feel the way he imagined it would. He found to his surprise that his anger had suddenly fizzled leaving him feeling strangely neutral. But there was one thing he could say for sure. 

“I forgive you, Uncle.” Iroh’s face split into a wide, warm smile. He gathered Zuko into another embrace. There was no hesitating this time. 

“Now,” Iroh said, pulling away. He settled onto his cot while Zuko sat down on a pile of cushions across from his uncle. “I heard from a very reliable source that you have a new young lady friend.” 

“What?” Zuko yelped. “Who told you that? Hakoda?” A low chuckled rumbled from Iroh’s belly. 

“Actually, it was Ms. Ty Lee,” he said. “So, it’s true then?” Zuko’s face turned a deep red, and his shoulders scrunched up to his ears. 

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “Katara and I are dating.” 

“Wonderful!” Iroh laughed. “I am so happy for you both! You must officially introduce us.” Zuko grinned despite himself. Then he stood up and opened the tent flap. Iroh was right, after all. 

.*.*.*.*.*.

The next morning, Hakoda, Iroh, Paku and King Bumi met with Sokka and the others first thing the next morning. By now Hakoda and the Grand Lotuses knew that Aang was missing, but they would need to break the news to the rest of the troops. 

“But why?” Pakku asked. “The Northern Tribe joined because the Avatar would be leading us into this battle. If we tell everyone that he’s not here, the Northern Soldiers may leave.”

“We should be honest,” Hakoda countered. “If we let them go into battle and we _don’t_ tell them, they might find out and do worse than leave.”

“What could possibly be worse than leaving?” Pakku huffed. Bumi shrugged, his pinky in his ear. 

“They could defect,” he said with terrifying nonchalance. Pakku rounded on him indignantly.

“They would _never-”_

“The Northern Tribe _did_ leave the South to fend for ourselves,” Hakoda reminded him. “While our people were dying, the North closed themselves off and pretended the fight wasn’t happening.”

“It wasn’t as simple as that, and you know it!” Pakku roared at Hakoda.

“Would you two stop!” Katara jumped to her feet and put herself between her father and her teacher. “This is _not_ the time!”

“She’s right!” Zuko’s voice rang out above the other voices. “Aang isn’t here, and the only way we win is if we take down Ozai. We can’t tell anyone that Aang is missing until we have a solution. We need to focus on finding someone to face down the Father Lord!” 

Silence fell over the tent like a physical weight. Zuko was shocked to see everyone’s eyes fall on him. 

“What?” he asked. “Why are you all looking at me?”

“Dude…” Toph said. “You just called Ozai the _Father_ Lord.” Zuko felt his face heat with what he was sure was a spectacular blush. 

“I...I did _not!_ ”he sputtered. 

“Uh...yeah,” Sokka said. “You kind of did, man.” Zuko wasn’t sure how to handle the sudden attention. He forced his shoulders not to bunch up at his ears as he thought of a response. 

“You can’t be serious!” Katara moved in front of Zuko and glared at the others, her hackles already up. “Zuko’s right about someone needing to step up to face Ozai, and all you’re focused on is that he _might_ have misspoken? Get a grip, or we might all die in a couple of days!”

Zuko had noticed, a long time ago, Katara’s talent for dressing people down. That gift had not failed her here. These grown men over three times her age seemed cowed by her. Sokka and Toph even had the grace to look ashamed of themselves. Suki, though, seemed as proud as Zuko of her. 

“First things first,” she said. “We need a plan.” She was met with shamefaced expressions. 

“Well…” Sokka hesitated as he raised his hand. “Why does the plan need to change at all?” Katara’s brows drew down in confusion. An emotion it was clear everyone else shared. 

“What?” She stared at her brother. 

“I mean, aside from needing to find someone else to face off against Ozai, what needs to change?” Sokka asked. He pointed at Iroh. “What about we send _him_ to take down the Fire Lord?” 

Zuko knew what his uncle would say before he responded. He had, after all, had this conversation with his uncle already. 

“It will not help matters if I met my brother in battle,” Iroh told Sokka. “It would only look like an internal struggle for power. I will be where I am needed, but I believe it is better that I not be the one to stop my brother directly.” 

  
  


“What do you _mean_?” Sokka sputtered. 

“He’s right, Sokka,” Hakoda cut in. “We are not here to decide the matter of succession in the Fire Nation. But if we send Iroh to battle Ozai, that’s exactly how it would seem. We need to think beyond the battle. At least a bit. We want the right person on the throne of the Fire Nation, and that means making sure that no one can say that Ozai’s defeat is a political assassination.” Sokka opened his mouth to protest. After all, it was _war._ Who cared _who_ defeated Ozai, as long as he was defeated. But he was cut off by Iroh.

“Destiny is a funny thing,” Iroh said. “Deciding where it might lead is nearly impossible. However, I believe that in the end, Destiny _always_ leads towards balance. It is time for the Fire Nation’s attempts at tyranny to end. I believe that ultimately, it _is_ Avatar Aang’s destiny to face my brother in battle. I see no reason to deviate from our original plan at all. Tell the others that he isn’t here. Let them decide their own paths. In the end, I have no doubt that we will be victorious.

The tent had fallen silent during Iroh’s speech. Katara went to his side first, determined to show her support. Zuko went to Iroh’s other side and stared down the people he had decided to throw his lot in with. 

“My uncle is right,” he said. “I, personally, know how dumb it is to fight destiny. Everything in me is telling me that Uncle’s right.” 

“Aang _will_ come back and face the Fire Lord,” Katara declared. “I _know_ he will.” 

“Even if he doesn’t,” Sokka added, “Ozai is only as good as his support. If we go through with the plan, even _with_ the comet, he can’t stand alone.” Hakoda beamed at his children with pride. He clasped his hand on Sokka’s shoulder and raised his other hand in the air.

“The Southern Tribe will stand!” he declared. “Avatar or no, the victory is _ours_ for the taking.” 

“Kyoshi will fight, too!” Suki told the others. “And we are a force to be reckoned with.” A cheer of agreement went up through the tent. 

“There _is_ one thing,” Iroh shouted above the din. “Ty Lee has told us that Ozai plans to name Azula the leader of the Fire Nation. She _must not_ be allowed to take the throne.” 

“It has to be me to face her,” Zuko said. “She hasn’t been given the crown yet. I can still challenge her.” Everyone seemed to agree that was the best option, but Zuko knew that his uncle was the only one who truly understood what that meant. 

“You cannot go alone,” Iroh warned him. “Azula has never been one to play fair.” 

“I don’t intend to go alone,” Zuko assured his uncle. Then he turned to his girlfriend. “Katara, how would you like to put Azula in her place?’

Every encounter with the Fire Nation princess that Katara had ever had flashed through Katara’s mind. She remembered the sleepless nights, and cradling Aang’s broken body in her arms, and the fear of leaving Zuko and Iroh to face Azula’s wrath alone. Then Katara met Zuko’s eyes with a smirk as she said in all sincerity, 

“It would be my pleasure.” 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Katara wasn’t sure how things had gone wrong so quickly. She and Zuko had made a plan -a good one, she thought- but as with most things involving Princess Azula, it hadn’t gone as she had hoped. They had landed in the palace courtyard just as the Sages were about to crown Azula Fire Lord. The sight of Appa descending from the sky sent the heavily robed men scattering, but Azula was not cowed. She stormed out to meet her brother, all fury and power. When Zuko declared his intention to take the throne himself, Azula threw her head back and cackled. 

She looked truly mad, Katara realized. Her hair hung in uneven clumps, and her crimson and gold ceremonial robes hung from her small frame looking more like blankets than clothing. When she finally leveled her gaze at Katara and Zuko, her eyes were predator sharp and her mouth was stretched into a feral snarl. 

“You want the throne?” she laughed. “Then, by all means. Agni Kai!” Katara gasped. Zuko had explained the Agni Kai the day he told her about his scar. But there was no way he would agree to-

“I accept!” Zuko started to walk towards Azula, but Katara caught his arm. 

“Zuko, are you insane?” she hissed. “She’s trying to split us up because she knows she can’t take us both on at once. Don’t play her game!”

“I can take her,” Zuko said. “I can’t explain it, but she’s different somehow. She’s off. And this way...no one else has to get hurt.” Katara reeled back in shock. Then her face contorted in anger. 

“Is that what this is about?” she demanded. “You don’t want _me_ to get hurt? Zuko, I can take care of myself.” 

  
“I know that!” Zuko’s hands balled into fists at his sides. “I know you can.”

“Then let me help!” Katara’s grip tightened on his arm. He took a deep breath and shook his head. 

“The Agni Kai is sacred,” Zuko explained. “If I win, then my claim to the throne will be validated. There is no one else eligible to challenge me.” Katara started to protest again, but Zuko leaned in and kissed her. “Please trust me.”  
  


Katara bit down hard on her lip and nodded. She didn’t like or fully understand what was happening, but she had long since decided to trust Zuko with her life. She just hoped she could trust him with his.

“How touching!” Azula scoffed. “My brother found someone who isn’t horrified at the sight of him.” Katara bristled, ready to fight Azula for that insult alone, but she had just given her word. She signaled for Appa to get to safety, and then tucked herself behind the stone wall surrounding the yard. On the battlefield, brother and sister stood on opposite sides, flames already licking their fingertips. 

“I’m sorry it had to come to this, dear brother!” Azula laughed maniacally. 

“No, you aren’t,” Zuko growled. And then the fight began. 

Katara couldn’t track Zuko and Azula in the swirling flames. All she could see was cold, blue flame slamming against umber and crimson. She ran over towards the columns, hoping she would have a better view from there. Her heart thudded in her ears as she ran, but neither combatant took notice of her. 

They were shouting at each other. Katara couldn’t hear what they were saying over the roar of the infernos, but she could see that they were yelling. It was infuriating to be on the outskirts of the fight. Her fingers twitched for the waterskin at her side. But Katara had told Zuko she’d let him handle this. 

The tide was starting to turn, Katara realized. At first, Zuko and Azula had been evenly matched. Azula had brute force on her side, but Zuko had mastered his bending, and his control made him more than capable of facing his sister. Now, though, it was clear Zuko had the upper hand. Katara heard him taunting her. Challenging her to use her lightning. Her heart clenched. She didn’t know what Zuko was planning, but she had seen the aftermath of Azula’s lighting before. And Katara didn’t have any spirit water with her this time. Still, she told Zuko she would trust him.

Katara knew only the basics of the Agni Kai. Zuko had explained the custom only once, and not in very much detail. One thing she knew, though, is that the battle was meant to be the challenger and the one challenged. There were no seconds, and anyone else must be left out. That was why when she realized that Azula had suddenly aimed a lightning bolt at Katara, the waterbender wasn’t prepared to dodge or protect herself. She stared in shock as first the lightning bolt shot out towards her, and then a dark blur leapt in front of it. In the split second it took her to realize the blur was Zuko, she was already racing towards him.   
  
He _couldn’t_ die! Not like this!

The water around her hands began to glow as she rushed out to the middle of the field, but her was was suddenly blocked by a wall of blue flame. Zuko lay twitching just a few yards away from Katara, but his sister, it seemed, was not interested in getting him healer’s attention. 

The mad princess taunted Katara as she lobbed fire ball after blazing fire ball at her opponent. Katara didn’t have enough water in her skin to take on a fire bender during the comet, and Zuko didn’t have enough time for her to find more. Katara was spending too much of that time on the defensive. She needed to figure something out and quickly, or neither she nor Zuko wouldn’t make it to the sun rise. 

_CLANK!_

Katara looked down and realized she was on a grated of some sort. There was a set of manacles tethered to it for some reason. She didn’t have time to question her good fortune. Azula was stalking closer, ready to make her kill. Katara sent a prayer up to the Moon and Ocean spirits, and made a show of cowering away from Azula’s advance. She would only get one chance, and it _wasn’t_ a full moon.

“Congratulations,” Azula drawled as she approached Katara with that unnerving, feral grin. She lifted her hands, preparing to incinerate Katara. “This was _almost_ exercise. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you and my dear brother can be together for-” Azula stopped speaking abruptly. Her mad grin turning into a mask of horror as her arms suddenly spasmed and she was brought forcibly to her knees. Her eyes- the only part of her body she still had control of- rolled wildy in their sockets as Katara dragged her closer to the manacles on the grate. 

“What are you doing to me?” Azula roared. “Waterbending witch! Release me, now!” 

Katara ignored Azula’s screeching. She focused on holding Azula in place with one hand as she reached for the iron shackles. Her nose was bleeding from the effort of bloodbending without the full moon, but Katara didn’t care. She fastened first one, then both of Azula’s arms behind her back before finally releasing her hold on the princess. Azula was still screaming and wailing in rage at her defeat, but Katara ignored her and staggered towards Zuko.

She _wasn’t_ too late, she thought as she gathered water around her hands. She _couldn’t_ be too late. 

Zuko was on the ground, arm outstretched in her direction. His hand was still moving Katara noticed with relief so powerful it almost knocked her off of her feet. She slid to his side on her knees and rolled him onto his back as gently as she could. The smell of burnt flesh assaulted her nose, and she almost wretched, but the sight of Zuko’s agonized face killed the urge.

“Please, please, _please_ !” Katara begged as she pressed her hands to his badly damaged chest. She followed the pathways she had memorized when she healed Aang from a similar injury. This was different though. Zuko had sustained grievous wounds, and had Katara not been there, he would have died of them, eventually. But Katara _was_ there, and she realized that Zuko wasn’t hurt the way Aan had been hurt. Zuko had managed to direct the lightning away from his heart. Most of the damage was to his sternum. Katara didn’t know how he had managed that, and she didn’t care for the time being. She focused on knitting together the worst of the damage beneath her hands.

The work seemed to take an eternity, and Katara herself couldn’t have said how long she knelt at Zuko’s side, willing the hole in his chest away. She didn’t realize that she had succeeded until Zuko brought his shaky hand over hers and squeezed it with what strength he had left. 

“Thank you, Katara,” he rasped. Katara spared only a moment to make sure she wouldn’t land on anything still unhealed before she threw herself at him, pressing her lips to any part of his face she could reach. 

"If this is what I get for being shot with lightning. I'll make sure to do it again." Zuko grinned as Katara kissed her way across his face. Katara pulled back and glared at him, but the gentleness of her hands caressing his cheeks belied her anger.

"Don't you _dare_ ," she warned him.

"Yes, dear," he laughed. Then Zuko pulled her in close before she could resume her journey down his cheek, and finally caught her lips with his.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

The lion turtle dropped Aang on a small Earth Kingdom island near where the heaviest fighting was. Aang could see the glow of fire and bombs in the distance. He wasn’t sure if he were imagining the sounds of screams on the wind, but it chilled him to the bone all the same. Aang called for Momo and, snapping his glider open, he ascended the lion turtle’s forested back. He turned back to the giant creature once he landed and bowed respectfully. 

“Thank you,” he said, “for your guidance.” The lion turtle accepted his thanks with a low rumbling hum. As Aang was preparing to take off again, he paused and looked back at the lion turtle. 

“Something else?” it asked. Aang hesitated a moment.

“Earlier, I had a...a conversation with Avatar Roku,” he said. “He told me that this gift you gave me comes with a price. I was just wondering…” The lion turtle shut its eyes again and lowered its head just slightly. A nod, Aang thought. 

“All things are... connected,” the lion turtle told him. “The gift... I gave you will ...erase the illusion... of separation bit by bit each time you use it. It is a gift because you will have ...a share in all the joys of the world... and it is a burden... because you will also... share its pains and fears.”

“What does _that_ mean?” Aang’s nose scrunched up in confusion. 

“It shall... become clear to you... young Avatar,” the lion turtle said. ‘Now go. The longer you linger here... the more death and destruction.” Aang had many more questions, but the lion turtle was already backing away. It was right, too, that Aang had to leave. He snapped his glider open and took to the sky, heading directly towards the heart of the battle. 

There were spirits guiding him, Aang thought as he flew with purpose in one direction. Instinctively, he knew just where he would find Ozai. Within an hour, Aang found him on a mountain top, gazing down at what he thought would be his empire as the battle raged. Aang watched him for the few moments before Ozai realized he was there. He was a tall man, broad shouldered and strong looking, but Aang was struck by how far he stood from the actual battle. He allowed his people to fight and die, and he didn’t even have the conviction to lead them in the fighting. Aang was surprised to find himself disgusted by that. Then Ozai seemed to realize that he was no longer alone. He spun around, already snarling with rage. 

“ _You!_ ” Ozai snarled. Then he eyed Aang up and down, measuring the boy’s worth and seeming to find him lacking. He scoffed. “I had heard that you were young. I hadn’t realized you hadn’t even lost your milk teeth yet.”

“I’m here to stop you,” Aang said levelly. Ozai threw his head back and laughed. 

“You’re already too late, you milkfed brat!” Ozai gestured with his hands to the battlefield. “Ba Sing Se is mine. Soon the rest of the Earth Kingdom will fall to me, and out of its ashes I will build my new empire!” Aang took a step back and blinked at Ozai.

“Wow...so you are legit crazy,” he said. “I thought Zuko was exaggerating.” Ozai recoiled at the mention of his son. It seemed to enrage him more, and suddenly he was done talking.

“It’s time someone taught you respect, boy,” he spat out. His fist were suddenly engulfed in flames. Without another word of warning, Ozai attacked.

Aang dodged one ball of flame only to find himself herded into the path of another. He deflected it with a blast of air. Then he dropped down into a squat and shook the ground beneath Ozai’s feet. He just needed to knock the Fire Lord off his balance long enough to get close to him. But the Fire Lord was a _very_ good firebender. He was back on his feet and dodging rock after rock that Aang threw at him. A quick survey told Aang that there wasn’t much water to be found on the surface of the mountain. He could feel the pull of water deeper in the rocks, but he would need to stand still to draw it up. He didn’t have that kind of time. He needed the Avatar State. 

Kyoshi’s final words rang through Aang’s mind. He heard them as clearly as if she had been on that mountain top with him. She had been right. He couldn’t win without the Avatar State. He had thought he had mastered all the elements, but now faced Ozai’s powerful onslaught, he realized he knew just enough to keep Ozai from incinerating him. He needed to get off the defensive. Oh! How he wished his friends, true masters of their elements, could have been with him. The only option he had then was to open his last chakra and access the Avatar State. In one desperate motion, he sent a powerful blast of air at Ozai, and opened the earth beneath him. Aang was in a protective hole before Ozai regained his footing. Above, he could hear Ozai raging at him to stop hiding like a coward, but Aang blocked him out and began to meditate. 

He had to work fast, but all the meditating Zuko had made him do helped him fall quickly into a deep calm. He looked deeply within himself, and then deeply into the spiritual connection between himself and the world. What he saw there hurt the way setting a broken bone hurt. He didn’t know if what he was seeing was the future, or just a possibility, but it showed him the foolishness of his clinging pursuit of Katara. He saw the outcome of his sacrifice. His dream of a peaceful future and his hope for a community and family, not to replace what he lost, but to begin filling the hole the loss left. But he couldn’t do it unless he embraced the part of himself that was the Avatar completely and wholeheartedly. 

Ozai had just given up on his search for the cowardly Avatar. He would have him imprisoned and tortured once the world was his. But suddenly the mountainside began to tremble violently, and the Avatar burst from the ground. His eyes and tattoos were lit up with an otherworldly glow, and for the first time, Ozai felt fear of him. One by one the elements gathered and swirled around him. Water, from deep within the mountain. Stones, as large as Ozai’s head, from the hole that Aang had just created. When Ozai tried to knock him out of the air, his flamed joined the swirling mass as a strong gust of wind blew across the plateau.. They swirled around the boy like a shield, and Ozai was put on the defensive. Aang the boy, with his weak grasp of three of the four elements, was no match for Fire Lord Ozai, but Avatar Aang had thousands of lifetimes of mastery of the elements. He knocked Ozai to the ground with wind, and trapped him there with stone cuffs around his arms and legs. When Ozai tried to breath fire, his tongue suddenly froze to the roof of his mouth, and then Aang was upon him. 

Just as the lion turtle had shown him, Aang place one hand on Ozai’s head and the other over his heart and found his chi paths. Energy bending would not simply block Ozai’s chi. It would sever the connection completely. He would never bend again. 

_Good._ A voice boomed in Aang’s head. _He abused his gift. He is not worthy._

Ozai’s tongue game unstuck and he tilted his head back and screamed as he felt something vital in him die. He was surprised when Aang stepped away, no longer glowing with that ethereal light, and he was still alive.

“You couldn’t finish me off?” he taunted. “I should have known the Air Avatar would be a coward.” Aang took another step back and almost smiled. 

“I don’t need to kill you,” he said. “You’re not worth having blood on my hands.” Then, he released Ozai from his earthen bonds. Predictably, Ozai leapt to his feet and lunged at him. He faltered, though, when no flames erupted from his hands. He tried again. And again. 

“What have you _done_ to me?” he roared. 

“I took your bending,” Aang told him simply. “You are not worthy of the gift you were given.” Aang thought that Ozai would try to attack again, but instead the man sank to his knees and let out a loud, anguished wail. Aang was surprised to feel his own heart clench at the loss. Although Ozai was an evil man, it seemed Aang couldn’t help but empathize. 

With a sigh, Aang bound Ozai up again and began his trek towards the still ongoing battle. The comet was passing, and Aang had a war to end.

  
  


.*.*.*.*.*.

Despite her best efforts, Katara hadn’t been able to completely heal Zuko. He wasn’t in immediate danger, but he was clearly still in a lot of pain. He put on a brave face when the Fire Sages rushed out into the courtyard. Katara stood in front of Zuko protectively, water was already encircling her hands, but the Fire Sages surprised them both by falling on their knees in front of Zuko. 

“All hail the Fire Lord!” cried the one out front. The two behind him repeated the declaration. Zuko put his hand on Katara’s shoulder and moved out in front of her. 

“Do you swear fealty to me?” he asked them. One by one, all three of them said,

“I do swear.”

Then Zuko told them to rise and instructed them to take Azula to the dungeons and have a physician see her. It was an unusual coronation, but Zuko was now officially the Fire Lord. As the Sages rushed to carry out their new ruler’s orders. He waited until they were gone to gasp in pain. Katara draped his arm over her shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist. After checking to make sure they weren't’ being watched, she leaned up and kissed Zuko’s cheek.

“Congratulations,” she whispered, guiding him towards the palace.“You did it!”   
  


“No, _you_ did it,” he said, shaking his head. “I’d be dead if you weren’t here.”

“If I hadn’t been here, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” Katara’s steps faltered, and her voice hitched in her throat. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t know what would have happened,” Zuko said. “Azula is...was...ruthless. She always had a knack for finding my vulnerable spots.” 

“You were winning!” Katara insisted. “You were winning, and I-”

“Did nothing wrong,” Zuko cut in. “Azula didn’t follow the rules. If it wasn’t this, she would have found some other way to cheat. This is all on her.” Katara nodded silently, but Zuko stopped walking abruptly once they crossed the threshold into the palace. Katara examined him frantically, looking for any sign of his wounds reopening.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “Can you walk?”

“I want to hear you say it,” Zuko told her.   
  
“Say what?” Katara looked up in concern. Had Zuko suffered a head injury? 

“Say it’s not your fault.” 

“Zuko…” Katara huffed exasperatedly. She tried to get him walking again, but he wouldn’t move. 

“Say it’s not your fault,” he repeated firmly. Katara sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“It’s not my fault,” she said finally. 

“Because Azula cheated,” Zuko prompted. Despite herself, Katara found herself smiling a bit. 

“Because Azula cheated.” 

“Good.” Zuko kissed the top of her head. “The last thing you need is to start beating yourself up over this.” Katara’s smile widened.

“Okay, you have to tell me where I’m going,” she said. “You need rest, and I need to finish healing you.”

“You need to rest too,” Zuko pointed her in the right direction. He looked down and checked her over. Her clothes were singed and sooty, but aside from her bloody nose, she didn’t seem physically harmed. Still, Zuko could tell she was exhausted. He could feel her trembling beneath his arm as they walked. They reached his bedroom- Zuko wasn’t quite ready to claim his father’s rooms- and Katara helped him on to his bed. 

“I’ll have to get water,” she said. “I didn’t see anyone in the halls. Where do I-”

“Katara,” Zuko placed his hand over hers and made her sit beside him. “You need to rest as much as I do.”

“I’m fine,” Katara snapped. Zuko reached up and ran his thumb across Katara’s upper lip. He showed her the blood that came away with it. 

“You’re hurt, too,” he said. He let his arm fall at his side. His exhaustion was beginning to tell on him. “Did she hit you?” Katara ducked her head, her cheeks flushing slightly. 

“No,” she almost whispered. “I...I used bloodbending. It’s more difficult without the full moon. I’m so sorry, Zuko. She was attacking and you were hurt, and I...I... well, if it had been Sokka, I…” 

‘Katara,” Zuko was tired, but he used his remaining strength to sit up. “You did amazing. You saved my life, and maybe my sister’s...I can’t thank you enough.” Katara’s eyes welled with sudden tears. She squeezed them shut and ducked her head. 

“You can thank me by resting,” she told him. 

“ _You_ need to rest, too,” Zuko insisted. Katara nodded. 

“I will,” she promised. “I’ll be right here. Just call me if you need me, okay?” Zuko nodded, allowing Katara to guide him down to his pillows. Sleep had halfway claimed him before his head was cushioned. He smiled at the sensation of Katara’s hand running through his hair. 

  
  


.*.*.*.*.*.*.

As if all the good news in the world had been waiting to break over Zuko and his friends, wave after wave of it came crashing down on them over the next few days. After the Sages had declared him Fire Lord, the palace servants and guards had mostly accepted him warmly. He wasn’t completely sure he could trust those who remained on when he took the throne, but the arrival of Toph with Suki and Sokka gave him a reliable way to sort out those who had ill intent. Aang arrived later that same day with a newly disempowered Ozai in tow. The day after their arrival, the friends received word that Chief Hakoda had survived the final battle of the war and was on his way to join his children in Caldera. Then finally, Iroh arrived at the palace with Bumi and Pakku. Zuko had never felt so overwhelmed with joy. 

Four days after the end of the war, the most important people in the world to the young war heroes had gathered in the Fire Nation palace. On the fifth day, they all stood by Zuko’s side as his reign was declared in front of the entire Fire Nation. Iroh had once told Zuko that he had more support than he realized, and the aging general was proven right by the cheering crowds. Zuko had been declared a hero for ending the war that had killed so many of their children. 

“Please!” he said when the crowd’s adulation reached its peak. “I am not the real hero. The _real_ heroes are the ones who stood for what was right when it was hardest. The ones who protected the weak against tyrants when it would be easier to fall in line,” Zuko gestured to his uncle to stood by his side. “The ones who lost everything but still found reason to fight.” He glanced at Hakoda who stood beside his children behind the podium. “The ones who believed the world could change when everyone else had lost hope.” His eyes ran over Sokka, Suki and Toph before landing softly on Katara who beamed at him proudly. Zuko took a moment to grin back at her, and then turned to Aang. “Lastly, I want to thank the Avatar, who brought to the world’s justice a tyrant who caused hurt and trauma not only abroad, but also to those who put their trust in him to lead with compassion and honor. Because of Avatar Aang’s efforts, Ozai will stand trial before the people he hurt the most. There are more who I don’t have time to name who made victory possible for us, and I wish I could thank them all individually today. To all the soldiers who died defending their homes. To all the men and women who were drawn into a war they didn’t believe in by people more powerful than they were, I want to give my sincere gratitude. In your honor, I declare this war that has lasted for One Hundred Years officially over!

Another massive cheer rose above the crowd gathered around the stage. Iroh grabbed Zuko and pulled him into a tight hug, a display of affection unheard of in the Fire Nation until then. Katara had to content herself with wild applause and tears of joy. Her relationship with Zuko was not yet public, and although she desperately wanted to hug him, too, she held back and allowed Zuko to enjoy his moment. 

Aang however, felt conflicted. He had been told what was to happen next and he wasn’t at all in support of it. Although he had managed to not have to kill Ozai himself, he had been brought up on charges of crimes against humanity, and would stand trial before a delegation of the United Nations. Despite his best efforts, Aang had not been able to convince them to take the death penalty off of the table. 

“Ozai has done some terrible things, Aang,” Hakoda had explained. “And the White Lotus has on good authority that there are people in the Fire Nation who could cause trouble for Zuko if Ozai is still here as a viable option for leadership.” 

“But I took his bending!” Aang insisted. Hakoda just shook his head sadly in that way adults did when teaching something to a child. Aang thought he would resent Katara’s father forever for that look. 

“It’s not that simple,” Hakoda told him. “Ozai wasn’t popular with certain people because he was a good bender. He was popular because he made them rich. The war _he_ supported made them rich. Taking his bending means he’s no longer a physical threat. But he is _still_ a political threat.” Aang had grumbled something acquiescent in reply. But later that night, he turned to someone he thought could out rank Hakoda.   
  


“I can’t stop this, Aang,” Zuko told him grimly. “The Fire Nation isn’t sitting on this trial. We’re too close to the situation, and anything I or any Fire Nation representative said could be taken out of context and used to cause a civil war. But even if I could stop it, I wouldn’t.”

“But he’s your father!” Aang protested. “Doesn’t that mean _anything?_ ” Annoyance flashed across Zuko’s face, but it was quickly chased by a thoughtful look. 

“No,” he said at last. “I suppose it doesn’t.”

Aang felt an unaccountable rage looking at Zuko just then. He had never felt so angry in his life. It was so intense that he had to excuse himself before he attacked the new Fire Lord. The feeling terrified Aang as much as it had shocked him. It was the anger of his hard work being for nothing, he thought. He would need to meditate on that anger later to figure out its cause, but it would have to wait. He ran into Katara on his way to his room. 

“You _have_ to talk to someone!” he pleaded with her. “Maybe Zuko can’t stop this, but your dad is sitting on the trial, isn't he?” 

  
“Ozai has caused a lot of damage,” Katara told him, not unkindly, but not sympathetically either. “He is responsible for the deaths of _thousands_ of people.” 

“Killing him won’t bring any of them back!” Aang grasped at her hands insistently. “His death won’t fix anything!” Katara regarded Aang cooly and extracted her hands from his grip. 

“Suki has had some of her warriors guarding Zuko for the past week,” she told him. “They’ve already stopped two assasination attempts on him by people who want Ozai back on the throne. His death would solve _that_ problem.” Aang tried to argue with her further, but Katara had already stormed off in the direction of her room. When Aang started to chase her, he was stopped by Sokka’s voice coming from around a corner. 

“You’re going to have a hard time finding people who don’t support executing Ozai,” he said, emerging into the open. 

“Revenge isn’t going to make anything-”

“Did you know Ozai gave Zuko that scar?” Sokka continued. “He also tried to kill Katara. _Her_ in particular. He sent his men to kill the last waterbender, but our mother lied and said _she_ was the last waterbender. Then they killed her.”

“That’s terrible,” Aang said. “But the Fire Nation killed _all_ of my people, and I _still_ think that-”

“Ozai hurt the people representing the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe directly,” Sokka went on as if he hadn’t heard Aang. “That’s why neither county is sitting on the trial. It would be too personal. So, going to the two people that Ozai hurt the most to try and stop his standing trial is useless. It’s completely ignoring their feelings, and it’s pointless because even if they _wanted_ to stop the trial, it’s out of their hands. 

With that, Sokka turned on his heel and left Aang gaping after him. His heart sped up and he felt his face contort with rage. _He_ couldn’t stop the trial? _He_ was the most powerful man in all the nations. If he wanted, he could have an army at his command, and he would _burn_ anyone who stood between him and his empire!

Aang gasped and shook his head. Those were _not_ his thoughts. Looking around nervously, Aang turned and fled to his rooms. He _needed_ to meditate and figure out what was wrong with him. 

A servant, a middle aged man with a dour face, was in Aang’s room when he arrived. Blushing furiously, he thanked the man for prepping his room for the night and quickly dismissed him. Aang wasn’t used to benign attended to that way, and he hoped he wasn’t rude, but the nagging grain of murderous intent sat at the back of his mind, demanding to be tended to. When the room was finally empty, Aang went out to the balcony and sat with his legs folded in the lotus position. Then he cleared his mind and began to meditate.

Aang felt a presence join him and he frowned. Who would have come into his room while he was meditating? He opened his eyes to find Avatar Roku sitting across from him. The old man had a melancholy smile on his face. 

“Avatar Aang,” he greeted him, bending his head forward into a bow.

“Roku,’ Aang heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you’re here.” 

“I am glad _you’re_ here,” Roku’s smile widened for a moment, and he did truly seem glad. “You did a brave thing, and you are now the youngest fully realized Avatar.” Aang lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He hadn’t had to kill Ozai, but becoming a true Avatar had still come at a higher cost than he’d hoped. But that wasn’t what he needed to talk to Roku about.

“I didn’t kill Ozai,” he told Roku, “but he’s probably still going to die anyway. Don’t I get a say as Avatar on executions? Can’t I overrule them?” He chanced a peek at Roku and found his mentor watching him with what looked awfully close to pity in his eyes. 

“You cannot interfere with anyone’s justice system unless the balance of the world is at stake,” he said. “You may not always agree with the people’s decisions, but as Avatar, you are _not_ a ruler. To try to cross that boundary might send the world off balance itself. It would not be the first time an Avatar tried to set themself up as a global dictator. It doesn’t work.

“Then what was the point of not killing him?” Aang asked, deflating in on himself. 

“You showed the world that another way is possible,” Roku leaned forward and placed a comforting hand on Aang’s shoulder. “In this one case, your way might not be enough. Ozai has much to atone for, and his death now will save countless other lives. But the work of restoring balance is not over, and there will be plenty of other opportunities for you to lead the world down that path.” 

“But it makes me so angry,” Aang said. His shoulders shook at the memory of the rage. He still felt it even now, but it was more distant. It was as if there was an arrow tip inside him. Painful and disruptive, but not truly part of him. When he looked up again, Roku was watching him closely.

“What are you feeling now?” he asked. Aang tried to explain the foreign bit of rage that sat inside of him but not really part of him.

“But what does that mean?” Aang shrugged helplessly. ‘I’m meditating now. Maybe I’m detached from it.” Roku shook his head.

“Even when meditating our emotions are part of us,” he told Aang. “Do you feel so detached from sadness? Or happiness?” Aang brought his hand up to his chest and frowned. Roku was right. He was calm and centered, but he recognized his own emotions. There was even anger there, but not that foreign rage.

“What’s going on, then?” he asked. 

“I told you there would be a cost attached to the lion turtle’s gift,” Roku explained. “Did you ask the lion turtle that was?” Aang nodded. 

“It said that energy bending would erase the illusion of separation for me,” he answered. “It said that I would share more and more of the world’s joys and fears every time I use it. I don’t understand, though.” 

“You share a connection with everyone you energy bend.” Roku unfolded his long legs and rose. Aang scrambled to do the same, and for the first time realized he was not in his room at the palace. The balcony overlooked a fantastical, sprawling garden of flowers that glittered like gems. Above them the sky was filled with more stars than Aang had ever seen. There was no moon out, but the stars provided as much light as the full moon would have. They were in the Spirit World, Aang knew instinctively. He followed Roku along a path through the garden, and as they walked, Aang felt that arrow head of rage shrinking to almost nothing. 

“When you took Ozai’s bending,” Roku explained, “you took a piece of him inside of yourself. His rage is what you’re feeling. As you grow to understand your new gift, it will become necessary for you to learn how to separate what are your feelings and what are someone else’s.”

“How?” Aang asked. Roku gestured around to the field of flowers surrounding them.

“Meditation is one way,” he said. “You will discover other ways, as well.” Roku sighed and turned to face Aang. “It will be a burden on you. I won’t lie. But being the Avatar can be a heavy burden itself.”

“It was worth it,” Aang told Roku solemnly. “Even if I have to deal with Ozai’s emotions, it was worth it to prove I could win without killing him.” Roku smiled down at Aang proudly. 

“I know it was. You will do great things, Avatar Aang. And I will be here when you need me. Now, you should go and get some rest.” Roku placed his hand on Aang’s forehead and suddenly the world around the young boy began to grow comfortably warm and dark.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

After spending nearly three weeks in the Fire Nation helping Zuko get settled into his new role and building a security team he could trust, the Gaang prepared to split up. Katara and Sokka would be going home with their father and Pakku to help with the reconstruction efforts. Suki had to go back to Kyoshi with her remaining warriors. There would be rites to be performed and reports to give. Then she would join Sokka and Katara in the Southern Tribe for a few weeks to help with the reconstruction. Toph wanted to see her parents, and Aang offered to take her, since he needed to go to the Earth Kingdom anyway. Already violent disputes between the second and third generation Fire Nation colonists and the Earth Kingdom citizens, and they needed Aang to help mediate. Toph would join him again after assuring her parents she had survived the war. 

They didn’t want to think about any of that just then. They had a few more days before they scattered, so they spent as much time as possible together. They sat in the parlor of Iroh’s rooms. The general had a view of the ocean from there, and the group of friends had gathered to watch the sunset. Iroh wasn’t with them. He was in meetings with the members of the White Lotus that were still in the Fire Nation, and would probably be well into the night. He had sent them a pot of specially brewed tea, though. 

The friends stayed there well past sunset and well past the tea running dry. The room was filled with laughter as they reminisced over the good parts of the past year, and made plans for when they would see each other again. Katara sat beside Zuko on the sofa, their hands intertwined tightly as they both tried to avoid thoughts of their upcoming separation. They had already promised weekly letters, and visits as often as they could get away from their duties. Aang still couldn’t look at them without a sharp pain in his chest. With a sigh, he got up at one point and wandered out onto the balcony. 

“Hey, Aang?” The boy winced at Katara’s voice. He schooled his face into a smile and turned towards her. 

“Hi,” he greeted her. “I just needed some air.” 

“Are you okay?” Katara looked concerned, but she kept her distance. Aang found he couldn’t blame her. After all, their last meeting on a balcony had ended disastrously. 

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “I just have a lot on my mind.” Katara nodded and took a spot on the balcony, well out of arm’s reach of Aang. 

“You know you can talk to us, right?” Katara’s offer was sincere, and Aang could see she was really worried for him. He sighed slumped his head forward. He hadn’t told his friends that he was connected with Ozai. After his talk with Roku, about trying to force his will on the world, he decided it would be better to keep that information to himself for the moment. His friends might feel compelled to intervene in Ozai’s execution if they knew that Aang would feel his emotions in those final moments, and that interference could cause worse problems than it solved. He would tell them, eventually. Maybe even the day of, so he wouldn’t have to sit through it alone. 

“I will talk to you,” he promised Katara. “All of you, but I can’t tell you everything right now.” He flashed her a weak smile. “Avatar stuff.” Katara nodded and placed a hand on Aang’s shoulder. 

“I’m still your friend, you know,” she told him. 

“Yeah,” Aang sighed. “I know. I’m not completely over you yet, but I’ll get there. I’m...I’m sorry about how I acted before. I didn’t realize how selfish I was being and...well, you and Zuko make a lot more sense than you and I ever did. I hope you’re happy with him.” Katara smiled and glanced back towards the open balcony doors. 

“I am,” she said. “I hope _you’ll_ be happy, too.” Aang wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He was a continual optimist, and he was sure happiness was possible for him, he just didn’t know how it would come. He couldn’t think of anyone in the world he would love as much as he had loved Katara. But, he reflected, the world was large and there were lots of people in it. Besides, he had seen parts of what the future could hold for Katara and Zuko on that mountain top, and he knew even the Avatar couldn’t derail a destiny that strong. 

“I’ll find my own happiness,” Aang decided out loud. “And I hope you- all of you- will be with me.” Katara’s face broke into a wide grin and she reached out and squeezed Aang’s hand. 

“We will be.” Then to his surprise, Katara pulled him into a hug. It was warm and comforting, but Aang had learned not to read any more into it. “I’m so proud of you, Avatar Aang.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last, the series is over! I know this chapter was dense, but I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> Part 3: The finale is on its way!


End file.
